TH 9148 
■ N27 
1920 
Copy 1 


) 


STATE OF NEW JERSEY 
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
TRENTON 


The Teaching of 
Fire Prevention 

September, 1920 
















' 

to,:- 


■ 


tern,, 

felifej 

sS?5w i’>; ' >'.%• ,• 

! 


■ v' 


to 


1 




V to. 


mm 


t #: 




SJ 


V '! . S VA*} 












• gw 

P.v-! 




m 



:b ■ v. 


■* *" 1 




•P 


fe i- 


Slin'S 


;0I 

js 






ft 






toptop'. 

SVi. pPP 

.. 

. I 

-p\-:.Pw ,to'p V. ' V 


Sftft 


'H: 


{' h.'M 

m 

V.v:;, 


- - ,'• . . •-. ■ vto, p. 

,‘I|:# £<** y-Ki&tf-k--.it *8 

msmm 

\:SM& 

■ -A . (i-. ■ 


,V 


.-- ' O’ 

f.|; v„ 




t 

.v /•• 5 
»-V-. .-.it 




I 





Hi 




« 


»!'W 


Sfc*Rt 


•IP 


P \ftft 


i .; 


W: 


< p 


fJrVw, •/* 
; : v>to;;•• 


i 


Igffl 


..,,vp 


ItfW 


I ^ . 

msmmmMmmm 


m 


$ '-. ;‘ 
'&W 




: 4 '• > 






. WHiRHW 


H 

ft - ;-r;s» ■ 


Mm 




toto-to-toto:.toto Vtoto 


W*K« 

mAmmm mm 


mWti''$■'< r- 


i.,. «/' ■■/',. . :■'■! 

■ 




y'JJswU 


sp^w® 






' ' i v 
toy. 


*.w* 


- 

■ 


ft 


•>. 




Iipi 




Hfev 




1 lv .'-, .,•-/ \ v 

vmWziM- 


IMS 




I v -i A, 


I 


mf‘ 


■a 






f 

::t:4 

tmmkmmi 


I'-V-t* 


:'ivi:- 

•f» 

■■{RaS.'.-i 


v-iWi'A 

tS; a 5* 


•/ t\ 


'^mm 


M 

■ ■•, "WS 


, V '■' M' 


.'wv^ 

.■ J?>S? 

■ | . &! ,->&:■ '; 

• f >wM-m 

■■k 

pnii 


P & viffk;- 








P 

W'‘ 


•v ; -v’0‘ •■$*- ' • •• •),' ■■ -A\> , :j r 








ilwwlfw 


Bp**** 

, 




'>vJ; 


M' 


^•¥ 


!fe» 


• :; 7v^'Si yii V ” »f W'<vi;;-i' t ','••• '"t tv"' '■ v >'v- « f''- m ,# V S»^5 *' 

y; yy y : to totoMtoy t mM m p vm 


V': 




m 




\k 


m 


i 


i 


/.to A 


1 


5*$ 


|| 


III 




fiytoto; :• 


iv.to'H 


»*l®H 


to 




m 


•: ./c 


; ' ..V. 

■ to'to;A 

top’-i.f.; 



->fe.to' ' 



ftmm 

> m/fti i 
: Mix. i\ 

.:. t .-'j -. 

■fm 

y ■•;'• 

''up* 


■pi' 

/ y;" ; ' 

yfeifefe 

toV'rtov) 

wii? 

-if:-' 




ft • ;i»‘ 

r.f: y . ‘*.rH 
-to 


>- »'• 


,V' 


to 

to >;]< 






1 u! 




• ‘i.to V: 


■ > ito ; j-: 


m 


mm 


Mmm 


v‘ to 


■V: 


■to 




■•• .,«V-to, '>. ••> d -l> 




:to. totof 


V,/- 




4fclW ; : 

Itov '.to, ;':'to; * 


m 


m 

SKMt'irV 




I, 


: ; to;i 


lip 


tor 








I 


.tjvMl 


mmBm 

■ •: ■■'to to-v;: %v : ; 

y> ? - to '-'to- • to; 




tor--. 

•.-’-•.toi'ift’i" v,'"'/'. 


'^to-to 




.: & 


.X 


iM 












S? 


Itoto^'yfto^ttoytol 
l«lai ^g lii. ii 

^ 1 tov,;to, ■ ■■'t.-h;. 

to" .to;" 






to-to 1 


U'V-ti&j '' f.,«:iv,• &'■‘‘‘■- * 


t¥i 


iiSw ssE3 


r # 




h ; iS.'. : v : 


f.C;’ 






Will 


KJi 


v yr^tyh 


•*'■ ' i: p .^p, 

dtete 


MSI 


WVr'ji 


m&w i 


Ml 




■toto to'! to 


to to - 

’.■:•; *>to >''■!■>»'.^~-"- k 
' : : ' . ' . . ,.' 

gtotoyf * ’ 

.. to; •'■‘to. . 


isag 


rtorto t 


H« 

• '■ to,", y-toto •"'■••• •toi 


hj 1 '- 

''v ; '!>' •; ;: :-to4; 

. :- ■ • • 


'■ to' 


!>? 


ii!i la 




si? 


to 


■ 

1 ■ 'Cl 


■ y ,)■' :: '"to' /'v.r''w-4Ksj??. 


'Ay; 


j'JMr’i 


. 




■i MSMSSIHI •; mMiyt 


h ] wWmi 
t'ti&v W : . 


SH 


:■■; y.f/VA’to to 


■*■■ 


to 

y. 

■yto-to'tototo"' 

” to 




■ ■toto,;' 


'to '.::<^'-r ,1;-.; 




m 


ft y?mm: 

'to.‘'to," toto-' 




■toyto"- . 






’to); 












JL* . 

V'yAtotov 


c'^'/toy'v,, 


^>.v 


ti 


,v. 

WmfMf: 



■ 

ift 

1 


ft. 

ji] 

. 



. , "to ' 




\c/[ 


feto' 




t /) 


ipjtfV S'. 

,'feV'i 



y'fe 

fej 





y)'\ 


II 




■*&'.- w;' 


pPl;;. 

%mwm 

wwmM 


‘^Wim 

I 

to 


. 


HX 


wm 


i 


wPI 

"to,;, 'to'>to. t'to 

to 

“yf "V 

; to,;-, ,v 






isp» 

wife 


■to ,.fc 


m 






IS 1 


S 


W'f! 


:tfe 

.' into' 


feytoV 

to'to' .-y;to 
r ' •;' ,'. 


i 


m 


wkA 


W’\ 












■fe 


II 

W, 


,y,:, 


■tV -'to'/' , 

* c. u. ' ‘ ■.»’ •. ■ 
2 *-' 



i'JfJ 


i y. 


A-Ay.- Mflfe 

. 


i 










; V; '/;? 


to; 


f§, 
/ to' 


:,n: 






tototoSvto 

Him . 


£ 'toifefelfey'-i 7 

-! y; .-, ".'to' ) 


fWWf 

fe'feto'to' 
*4 to -to, to/V 


■M, 


Md 


■Ai 


! S'Mr&'jfc 
•: • "to 


.y,'-.* to 


r 


I 


' . .., "■ ' • 








.r >/ .'.;- ; y 




to fev' 




: 'fAA„ 




,CW» ; - ' 


• , to : tototof 

?. %fe 


•to .to 


a 


p 

V ,' J Ptfe'-'toto 

:" 'Afft >;!&r, ‘ 1 >KftlX to " '' «; Vto • . . to . / (J ' , . 


fe.'■'('./ a’ V'i 


wmm 

?|5B 


^ Pi 


'I 


;Vi; 


s&te 

' 


» 

Wjifyi 

•K/a’:- 


m 


t-' - -to* 4‘>*toto. V i 

to'”' tol'P ; 


•f'^Hto 


s 


rleiM 




. 

,; ■;- Ar • ■ •• "-to: 

*• 


. 

’UVs: 


mix 


fw 


'' to'fe"' 


mkWM KBi 

iSiiii 


iiara 




j,?y® 

Ilk 


. 

, 



m) 

ft.- 


Ad-xsmsm 


S ".to'>. v ' .. v'tfr-totfwy. - . j .-,"V'. i-'.'js® ,■■ .^iv - v 

■tofe^iV-yp'^PfeVi ' ‘ 

• yP-'y yi ' •' 

•vy- tyM 

'fe'totlilitolr'fe i: toypto:.'Wi 




B 


fMhWmisf 0 M 


a a™ 

’' ' ii' ? : 7 *v3,.:A:- : 


, : 

p. top,: ■ .to-; .'. to V %. - to; 


. 

1 ■■ 


; VW 


to' 

fefeto 


to tost 

• :. ;• a .:".• Vto 


to,P • 


m 


to " yto. to 


'&:. toto.to.;. 


:4.V; 


mm a 



..., •„,. toytotototol 

.itototov'-' -'to'lMyie 


A,. y V 1 





AGAMSff FIUB 


A Fire Prfeveniion Manual for fhe 
4 School Children of America^ 



^7^&pcvr&3 jQr 

<^£UNITED SW^BUMAUo/'EDUCAa’IOll 
NA'TlOJNfAE BOARD ©/* 

eeke ukdewritepnS: 




















! • 
















FOREWORD 


H ERE is a copy of the legislation enacted in the 1920 session 
of the Legislature concerning the teaching of fire prevention 
in the schools. 

1. The Commissioner of Banking and Insurance and the Com¬ 
missioner of Education are hereby empowered and directed 
jointly to provide a course of study in fire prevention for use in 
the public, private and parochial schools of this State dealing with 
the protection of lives and property against loss or damage as a 
result of preventable fire. * < ^ 

2. It shall be the duty of the board of education, school direc¬ 
tors, trustees or other committees or persons having control of 
the public, private 'or parochial schools in each township, village, 
borough or city or school district thereof to arrange for said 
course of study in fire prevention and to compel its use in each 
school under its or their control or direction. 

3. On and after September first, one thousand nine hundred 
and twenty, it shall be the duty of each teacher in any public, 
private or parochial school of the State of New Jersey to devote 
not less than one hour in each month, during which such school is 
in session, to the instruction of the pupils thereof in said course 
of study in fire prevention comprising the ways and means of 
preventing loss and damage to lives and property through pre¬ 
ventable fires. 

This is a subject of vital interest to everyone. The fire loss in 
this country is enormous—much larger than it should be. Many 
fires are caused by carelessness, and this carelessness may be 
reduced. 

The fact that the Legislature has required the schools to teach 
this subject is an indication—but not the only one—of the wide¬ 
spread belief that’the schools may help to check this evil. 

In this, as 'in so many other subjects, conduct is of more value 
than mere knowledge, but knowledge will influence conduct.—-' 
We hope that the teachers of New Jersey will use the hour a 
month which is stipulated in the law to the. very best advantage. 

If this subject is taught by teachers with enthusiasm and with 
a spirit of earnestness, we are sure that much goodwill be-accom- 
plished. 

Respectfully, 

C. N. Kendall, 

Commissioner of Education. 

Frank H. Smith, 

Commissioner of Banking and Insurance . 


July 1920. 


[ 3 ] 



PAGE 


Lesson I, 
Lesson n, 
Lesson III, 
Lesson IV, 
Lesson V, 
Lesson VI, 
Lesson VII, 
Lesson VIII, 
Lesson IX, 
Lesson X, 
Lesson XI, 
Lesson XII, 
Lesson XIII, 
Lesson XIV, 
Lesson XV, 
Lesson- XVI, 
Lesson XVII, 
Lesson XVIII, 
Lesson XIX, 


/ 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Our Country’s Fire Loss..., 

9 \ 
5 

Preventing' Fires. •. 

. . 9 

Matches . .... .. . 

, . . 13 

Lights.. 

. . 21 

Stoves and Furnaces.. . . 

. . 28 

Open Fires.... . . 


Cooking and Cleaning / . . .. 

. . 39 

Rubbish .... 


Kerosene .“. . 77.. 

. . 48 

Gasoline.. ... 


Gas .. , 


Eleetricitv .. . 


Acetylene . 


Smoking . 


Pyroxylin Plastic.. 

.. 74 

Holidays ... 


The First Five Minutes. 

. . 83 

Serious Fires. 


Forest Fires.. . 



[ 4 ] 






















The Fires You Eemembet v _ v * 
ERE you ever in a burning bouse? 

Can you possibly forget it? EveiS 
though the fire may have been put 
out before it did much damage, you remem¬ 
ber the excitement and fear. If you were old 
enough to realize the danger, you will never 
again care to pass through such a terrible 
experience. 

You never have been in a burning house, 
do you say? That is fortunate, but at least 
you have seen fires and c^n plainly recall the 
clouds of smoke and the fierce crackle of the 
flames, as they spread and destroyed every¬ 
thing within reach. You may have noticed 
the people who escaped; do you remember 
their grief as they saw their home and com-, 
forts, their Sclothing, furniture, pictures,' 
books, and the treasures that they had beeii| 
gathering for so many years, suddenly s_wep^ 
away? 

It is to be hoped that you have never seeri 
a fire in which people have lost their lives, or 
have been badly injured—but these, too* 1 
often occur. They happen without warning, 1 
at points where they are least expected. Peo-i 
pie who have been" going about their daily 
tasks without a thought of danger may sud¬ 
denly find their escape cut off by flames that 
have been caused by somebody's carelessness. 




y v 






SAFEGUARDING^ THE HOME 

In order that such a terrible thing may never 
happen through our carelessness, let us try^ 
to learn some things about fire, and espe¬ 
cially about the ways in which it may be 
kept from becoming dangerous. 

/ 

Fires and the Clock 

Here is a good way to begin: Stand in 
front of a clock and watch the long hand 
creep steadily from minute to minute. Every 
time it passes a minute mark, say to your¬ 
self : “Another fire has broken out; perhaps 
somebody’s dearly-loved home is being de¬ 
stroyed or some child is being terribly 
burned——then add, “It could have been 
prevented.” 

Watch that clock hand for ten minutes or 
more—"another fire” — “another” — “some¬ 
body’s home”—-“some boy or girl”—“some 
hotel, with the people struggling to escape” 
— “some factory^ with dozens of hands 
thrown out of work”—“another”—“another.” 
That is the way it goes, minute by minute, 
night and day, 4 -hroughout the year. When 
you wake up in the moaning, you may be sure 
that there will be hundreds of fires through¬ 
out the country before night; when you go 
to sleep at night, it is pretty certain that 
there will be hundreds of fires somewhere in 
the United States before morning. If some 
minutes go by without a fire, others may have 
two or three, for there are 1,440 minutes in 
the twenty-four hours, and each day has an 
average of more than 1,500 fires. 

There will be 1,500 more fires tomorrow, 
another 1,500 day after tomorrow, and so 
on, sometimes a few more and sometimes a 
few less, but averaging pretty close to 1,500 
for each day. Think jof it— these firei 

£01 





OUR COUNTRY'S FIRE LOSS 

haven’t yet occurred, and they wouldn’t occurs 
if people only would be careful. 


Gold + Silver + Copper 4- Petroleum = “Fire 
Tax” 

And it is not merely the number of these 
c fires that is shocking—remember the terrific 
amount of damage that they do! A few years 
ago, one of the departments of the United 
States Government * spent a large amount 
of time getting together figures and com¬ 
parisons about this damage. Some of the 
things shown, were really startling. For ex¬ 
ample, the report stated that the United 
States “fire-tax” (meaning the direct cost of 
the fire damage, and the other costs that are 
indirectly due to fire) is greater than the 
combined value of the production of all our 
gold mines, silver mines, copper mines, and 
oil wells. This was bad enough, but the re¬ 
port went on to say that this same “fire-tax 
is greater thamthe value of all of the land 
and improvements in any one of these states: 
Maine, West Virginia, North Carolina, North 
Dakota, South I^akota, Alabama, Louisiana, 
or Montana.” Wien you come to think of it, 
it is almost as though one of these great 
states were fed into the fire every year. 

Then, to make us understand it in still an¬ 
other way, the report added that the amount 
■which might be saved if people would really 
take proper precautions would be “nearly 
enough to build a Panama Canal each year.” 

But perhaps the strongest statement of all 
was made in an address by Mr. Charles Whit* 

•Report of the U. S. Geological Survey (1909). 



Burning the Value of 
Great States 



[ 7 ] 




/ 



'4, street of Desolation 


/ 


SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

iiig Baker. This gives us a picture that we 
can aimost^gee: 

' A Street of Desolation 

“The buildings consumed, if placed on lots of 65 
feet frontage, would line both sides of a street ex¬ 
tending from New York to Chicago. A person jour¬ 
neying along this street of desolation would pass in 
every thousand feet a ruin from which an injured 
person was taken. At every three-quarters of a® 
mile in this journey he would encounter the charged 
remains of a human being who had been burned to 
death.” 

All of this means a good deal to boys and 
girls, for two reasons. In the first place, it is 
important for them to think of themselves #s 
citizens, because in a few years they, them¬ 
selves, will be owning the property, and pay¬ 
ing the taxes of the nation; and, in the second 
place* while yet children, they can perform a 
>vonderful service in saving their homes and 
neighborhoods from much of this loss. 

This little book will tell how this may b§ 
(done. 





j Eire la a Good Serifant, but. a Sard Master. 




i 

\ 


[BJ 














Ask Yourself the 

L ET us find out something 

something that you may not even 
yourself. Are you careless ? That 
makes you stop and think a hit, doesn't it? 
You had never considered it in quite that 
way, but if you are honest with yourself, the 
answer probably will be “Yes,” for almost 
everybody in this country is carelbss; that 
is the principal reason why we have so many 
fires. % 

Here are some figures that should open our 
eyes. In 1913, the year before the 
of the war, the average fire-loss for each man, 
woman and child in France was 49 cents; in 
England it was 33 cents; in Germany, 28 
cents; in Austria, 25 cents; in Italy, 25 cents 
in Switzerland, 15 cents; and in Holland, only 
11 cents. In the United States for the 
year the direct loss was $2.10—and the 
direct loss was far higher. Our record was, 
therefore, more than four times as bad as 
that of France, and nearly twenty times as 
bad as that of Holland. 

Vienna and Chicago are cities of about the 
same size. Vienna had fire, losses for the 
year 1913 of $303,200; Chicago's were $5,- 
513,237, or more than eighteen times as 
great. New York City's fire losses were about 
four and one-half times as large as those of 


Eal>r 


$0-23 


Switzerland $0.15 


Holland 
How the Fire 
Compare 












SAFEGUARDING, THE, HOME ^ 

London. A similar comparison might be 
made with many other cities. Can we bo 
proud of such figures? 

Carelessness the Greatest Caus& 

Of course, there are more wooden buildings 
in America than in Europe. This is a con¬ 
dition which will take many years to change. 
But the most serious cause of fires could be 
removed at once, if all the people would as¬ 
sist ; this cause is found in one word—care¬ 
lessness. 

The National Board of Fire Underwriters 
makes a study of hundreds of thousands oi 
fires, ancLhas prepared tables which show 
that in 1916, 28.9 per cent of all American 
fires came from strictly preventable causes, 
while 47.8 per cent were partly preventable, 
and 28.3 per cent cgfaie from unknown causes, 
which probably were largely preventable. 

must then be admitted that the United 
States, with all its advantages, is a nation of 
careless people. Carelessness is not a thing 
to be proud of; it is a great national sin. It 
shows itself in many habits of recklessness, 
wastefulness and untidiness. It' burns our. 
towns, it leads people to risk their lives at 
railroad crossings and other places of danger; 
it takes chances with health; it is shown in 
all dirty streets, littered backyards and un¬ 
tidy homes.. It has been well described in the 
following quotation: 

WHO AM I? * 

I am more powerful than the combined armies of 
the world. 

I am more deadly than bullets, and I have wrecked 
more homes than the mightiest of siege guns. 

®Koy K. Moulton, in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, 
irfSTews,’* 


[ 10 ] 


PREVENTING FIRES 

1 steal in the United States alone" over $300,000,000 

each year. 

-i spare no one, and find my victims among the rich 
and poor alike, the young and old, the strong and the 
weak; widows and orphans know me. 

I massacre thousands upon thousands of wage- 
earners in a year. 

I lurk in unseen places, and do most of my work 
silently. You are warned against me, but you heed 
mot. 

I am relentless. I am everywhere; in the home, on 
the street, in the factory, at railroad crossings, and 
on the sea. 

I bring sickness, degradation and death, and yet 
few seek to avoid me. 

I destroy, crtish and maim; I give nothing, but 
take “all. 

I am your worst enemy. 

I AM CARELESSNESS. 

If a foreign army should land upon our 
shores, it could not wreak more destruction 
than this. If such an army should come and 
any American wer^found to be giving it aid, 
he would be called a traitor "to his country. 

- Every patriot would rise against such a foe. 

The spirit of carelessness in the United 
States is really a greater enemy than any for¬ 
eign invader, and it is found in millions of 
little unconscious acts of carelessness. When- 

- ever you, yourself, commit such an 3&t, there¬ 
fore, you really range yourself an enemy 
cf your country-—but if you begin earnestly' 
to watch your actions and to form new habits 
of carefulness, you will be helping our great 
nation to become safer, healthier, happier, 
more efficient, and more useful to humanity. 
This is the spirit of true patriotism. 

If, then, you are determined to try with 
all your might to form these new habits of 
carefulness, the first great step toward pre¬ 
venting fire will have been taken. From this 

[in 



Carelessness —Qtof} 

Great Enemy 




SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

point, it will be merely a question of getting 
knowledge—-of learning what fire is, why it 
spreads, and the ways in which it may be 
prevented. 


America's 'Wasteful Sabit 


[ 12 ] 








Valuable but Dangerous 

T HE match is perhaps the most valuable 
and the most dangerous article made by 
man. It has been in use for less than 
<me hundred years, but think of trying to get 
along without it! 

Suppose, for example, that you were camp¬ 
ing far from any houses, and discovered, 
v/hen it came time to cook dinner, that you 
had lost your matches. What would you do ? 
Would you rub sticks together like the In¬ 
dian or make a “bow-drill” like the Eskimo? 
These were the methods used by mankind 
for thousands *nd thousands of years, but 
they mean desperately hard work, as you 
would soon realize. You would be fortunate 
if you could find a bit of flint from which to 
strike sparks with steel, as your great-grand¬ 
father probably did. But even in that case 
you certainly would appreciate matches as 
never before. 

It was not until the year 1827, that aii 
English druggist named John Walker made 
the first practical friction-matches, and they 
were known as “Congreves.” A folded piece 
of glass-paper went with every box,,and in 
order to ignite the match one had to draw it, 
in one hand, quickly through the folds^of the 
paper tightly pressed together with the 
other. Another kind of match, the “Pro* 
[13] 



A Hard Method of 
Making%Fir& 


y 












SAFEGUARDING TUN HOMS 

methean,” appeared a little later. It had at 
one end a thin glass globule, which it was 
necessary to press in producing fire. 

Thus people went on experimenting, for 
everyone was interested and there was great 
demand. Gradually methods of making that 
were better and cheaper were discovered, 
until, to-day, matches are found in every 
home and are carried in millions of pockets* 

liOO Years for One Day 

If is said that more matches are sold ill 
the United States than in all the rest of the 
world. More than seven hundred million 
matches are used in the United States each 
day. You can hardly imagine such a figure. 
If a factory made just one match for every 
minute, night and day, it would take nearly 
fourteen hundred years for it to produce as 
many matches as this country uses in a single 
day. Or—to put it in another way—nearly 
five hundred thousand flames are struck 
every minute on an average. There is not 
pne of these fiames that would not develop 
Into a destructive fire if it had a chance. Con¬ 
sequently, every match must be regarded, 
and must be treated, as a possible source of 
great damage. It has within it the power to 
;rob you of your home, your loved ones, even 
(pf your life. 

' With the exception of fires from lightning, 
Spontaneous^ combustion, and a few other 
pauses, all fires can be traced in some way 
fcack to matches. If sparks from a chimney 
set fire to a roof, for example, the fire in the 
stove from which the sparks came was un¬ 
doubtedly lighted with a match. But when 
we speak of the danger of matches, we do 
Hot mean indirect danger such as this. Many 

£141 


MATCHES 

lives ana millions of dollars in property are 
lost every year because of carelessness in 
the direct use of matches. In 1916, the in¬ 
surance companies reported a totaj loss of 
$7,136,181 from this cause, and this did not 
include the great damage caused by careless 
smokers. 

Two Kinds of Matches 

Matches, to-day, are of two general classes :' 
Those which may be struck upon, any rough 
surface, and the so-called “safety matches/' 
made to be struck only upon the box, but 
there are good matches and bad matches in 
both classes. In ether words, while the safety 
match, as a rule, is safer than the kind first 
mentioned, a poorly made strike-on-the-box 
match may be more dangerous than a well- 
made strike-anywhere match. Therefore, we 
ought to know something about what & 
match is, as Well as how to use it. / 

Here is a match. What could appear more 
harmless? A tiny stick of wood, shorter 
than your finger, coated at one end with some 
substance that forms a little bulb, or head—* 
who would believe that it can be either & 
blessing or a deadly peril, according to th# 
way in which it is used. 

The secret of fire-production lies in the 
head of the match. This contains certain 
chemicals which take fire easily when heated, 
and it also contains particles of ground flint 
in order to create heat by frictioxi when the 
match is struck. If two objects are rubbed 
quickly together, the resulting friction brings 
heat, and ail the more easily and quickly if 
one of the objects be rough. If you sand¬ 
paper a board, rubbing it hard, you will soon 
find both paper and board becoming warm. 
[151 



Strike-on-the-box and 

Strike-anywhQr9 

Matches 


SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

JThus the friction from striking a match 
produces sufficient heat to cause the head to 
hurst into flame. 

The best of the strike-anywhere matches 
have heads containing a chemical called ses~ 
quisulphid of phosphorus, while the strike- 
©n-the-box match-heads contain chlorate of 
potash, which substance must be rubbed on 
phosphorus to bfmg fire, and for that reason 
pie box has phosphorus paint upon its sides.' 

How to Buy Matches 

Now, it must be remembered that even 
icareful persons may meet with accidents 
through the use of bad matches. Sometimes 
when struck, the blazing head will fly off, or 
the stick will break and fall; sometimes, too, 
the match will continue to glow after the 
flame has been blown out. These are signs 
that the match is poorly made; probably it 
is of some very cheap brand, for such things 
never happen with good matches. Careful¬ 
ness, therefore, must begin at the time of 
buying. One should always notice the brand 
and always order by brand. Whenever a 
brand is found to have any of these faults, 
it should be avoided in future, no matter how 
low the price may be. If manufacturers find 
that no one will buy the dangerous brands, 
they will stop making them. 

The best of the^ strike-anywhere matches 
have a black bulb surrounding the white head. 
This black substance is placed there to pre¬ 
vent the head from flying off when struck, 
and also to guard it from being set on fire 
accidentally. But, as a class, the strike- 
on-the-box or safety matches are less dan¬ 
gerous. i 

Matches of all kinds are carefully tested in 
£ 16 ] , 




MATCHES 


the great Underwriters' Laboratories; which 
The National Board of Fire Underwriters 
maintains in Chicago, and those that are able 
to pass the test are labeled by the Labora¬ 
tories. It is always a protection to find one 
of these labels on a box: 



The Laboratories have no interest in the 
sale of matches, and any manufacturer who 
will make goods of the right grade can se¬ 
cure the label. 

_ Being Careful m 

Let us suppose that your house is provided 
with good matches, those having solid heads 
and tough sticks. There will be no danger 
if you are always careful when using them. 
But are you? Here are some questions for 
you to answer: 

Do you ever throw away a match which is 
burning or even glowing? Never do this 
again. It has caused hundreds of deaths and 
has burned thousands of homes. The wife of 
Henry W. Longfellow, the poet, was burned 
to death because she allowed a lighted match 
to fall on the floor. 

How do you strike a match—away from 
you, or toward you?. Probably you have 
never thought about this, but think of it 
hereafter, and form the habit of always 
striking away from you. Thus, if the match 
breaks or its head flies off, it will not be 
likely to set fire to your clothing. In light¬ 
ing matches upon a box, first close the box; 
otherwise the flame may set fire to the whole 

4 

[ 17 ] 



SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 


box.If the box is set in a box-holder, such 
as those used by smokers, wherein the upper 
part of the box is pushed open, always place 
the box so that the heads are not exposed. 
In striking a match upon such a holder, al¬ 
ways strike downward away from the open 
end. 




Use Covered Boxes of 
Metal or Earthenware 


Out of Reach of Little 
Children 


WhM May Happen to Spilled Matches 

If matches are spilled, do you stop at once 
and pick up every one? If you leave them 
strewn about for even a little while you may 
forget them until after mischief has been 
done. A match on the floor is always a dan¬ 
gerous thing. It may be stepped on and ig¬ 
nited, or it may be found by a little child, or 
it may be carried into the wall or under the 
floor by a rat or a mouse. It is not probable 
that mice often start fires by gnawing match- 
beads, as many people think, but they do like 
to use them in building nests in warm, com¬ 
fortable places, close to chimneys or furnace- 
pipes. Dangerous fires may come from this 
cause, or from matches accidentally rubbed 
against beams while being carried to the 
nest. 

Where do you keep your matches ? Are 
they out of the reach of little children, as 
they always should be ? No one can tell how 
many little ones—-and older people, too— 
have been burned to death through neglect¬ 
ing this rule. Are they kept away from the 
stove, or the stovepipe, or any other place 
where they may become overheated? Are 
they loose in a drawer or on a shelf, or are 
they in a covered box or dish of metal or 
earthenware? Sometimes uncovered matches 
are ignited by the sun’s rays, shining through 
a lens-forming bubble in a window-pane,. 

[ 18 ] 


MATCHES 


Carrying Matches 

Do you carry matches, on your person? A 
child should never be allowed to do this. He 
may be careful, but 1 some more careless child 
may ask him for a match. Always be on 
the safe side. A grown person should never 
permit himself to carry loose matches in his 
pocket. .The State Fire Marshal of Iowa 
Bays: 


Some men, especially smokers, are in the habit of 
carrying matches around with them. It is the eas¬ 
iest thing in the world for matches carried around 
loose in a man’s pocket to drop out. Suppose the 
man has work to do about a barn. A match drops 
out on the bam floor and a horse steps on it. It is 
a parlor-match and ignites, setting fire to hay and 
other inflammable material found in bams. Then 
the bam bums and the cause of fire is reported 
something like this: 

“Unknown. Nobody had been in the barn for 
some time. Everything safe when the bam was 
closed up.” 

Six hundred and ninety-four barn fires took place 
in Iowa in 1914. Hundreds of these were reported 
as of unknown origin, but it is safe to say that in 
a great number of cases, if the cause could have 
been traced, it would have been found to be a match 
that had dropped out of a smoker’s pocket. 

Until we find some better device for pro¬ 
ducing lire, matches will continue to be used 
in immense numbers, and they will always be 
a source of danger in the hands of careless 
people, and even careful people may be im¬ 
periled by the actions of careless people 
about them. There are no safety-rules more 
important than those applying to the use of 
matches, and habits of carefulness should be 
formed by every person. Some one has said: 



Always Put Out 
Matches 


Matches do not think with their heads. When you 
use them, your head has to do all the thinking. Do 
the thinking! Put them out! 

[ 19 ] 




SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



Don’t Let the Baby 
Play with Matches 


Safety Rules for Matches 

In Buying 

1. Purchase by brand, and always avoid 
brands which break, lose their heads, or glow 
after being blown out. 

2. Look for the label of the Underwriters’ 
Laboratories. 

3. Give the preference to strike-on-the- 
box, or safety-matches, but, in case of buy¬ 
ing the strike-anywhere match, get one in 
which the white head is surrounded by a 
black bulb. 

In Using 

4. Never throw away a match until every 
spark is out. 

5. If matches are spilled, pick up every one, 

6. Do not carry matches loose; do not 
carry them at all, if a child. 

7. Keep matches out of the reach of little 
children. 

8. Keep them in covered boxes or dishes, 
away from the heat of stoves and stovepipes 
and out of the reach of rats and mice. 

9. Strike matches away from you. If 
striking on a box, first close the box. Strike 
.downward on the box. 


tm 



“A‘ 


Diamond's Mischief 
H, Diamond, you little know what 
mischief you have done!” exclaimed 
“Sir Isaac Newton, the great scien¬ 
tist and philosopher, looking with dismay at 
the ashes of a very valuable set of papers. 
For a long time, he had been making re¬ 
searches in optics, and the carefully written 
reports of his studies were lying upon his 
table when his little dog, Diamond, upset a 
lighted candle, and the invaluable records of 
his research and labor were destroyed. 


This incident calls attention to one of our 
commonest forms of fire-danger—that from 
lights. When evening comes, lights begin to 
shine from thousands of windows, for there 
is hardly a house in America which is not 
supplied with some form of artificial light. 
It is one of the great human necessities; 
without it many hours of activity would be 
lost. Therefore, since all must make use of 
artificial light almost every day, it is im¬ 
portant that we learn how to render it harm¬ 
less. All forms are dangerous in $ome 
degree. 

How is your house lighted? Do you have 
candles, kerosene lamps, gas-flame burners, 
gas-mantle burners, acetylene gas, or elec- 


[ 21 ] 

$ 

















SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



Heavy Candlesticks 
and Mica Shades 


tricity? Whatever system you employ, you 
should learn how to make it safe. 

You strike a match and get a dame; that 
dame instantly creates three things—danger, 
heat and light. The danger begins the mo¬ 
ment the tiny, flickering flame begins to cast 
its light, for we already know how flame 
seeks to spread. 

When You Light a Candle 

Perhaps you touch the match to the wick 
of a candle. A lighted candle gives a 
small, fairly steady, open flame. What are 
the necessary precautions to be taken with 
it? First of all, did you examine the base 
of the candlestick? Is it broad and heavy, 
so that it will not overturn ? Sir Isaac New¬ 
ton really may have been more to blame than 
his little dog. Possibly the great man’s mind 
was so filled with his gigantic problems that 
he forgot to jmake sure that his candlestick 
was properly made; but you have no such 
reason to be so thoughtless. Always make 
sure that the candle fits snugly in its holder, 
since a loose candle may tip or fall out. Can¬ 
dles should never be stuck into the mouths of 
bottles, fastened to boards, or used in any 
other way than in well-designed candlesticks, 
sconces, or candelabra. Cloth or paper shades 
must not be used unless protected by a guard 
of mica. 

Furthermore, you must keep an eye upon 
your candle to see that it does not gutter or 
bend and, of course, it must be placed where 
there is no danger that its flame will touch 
anything that might take fire. Does this 
seem like a great deal of precaution for one 
small candle? One small candle may cause 
a great disaster. 

[ 22 ] 





LIGHTS 

Vo You Really Understand Lamps? 

Let us go back to the match. Perhaps you 
may use it for lighting a kerosene-lamp in¬ 
stead of a candle. In this case, the wick 
flames up brightly, giving you a strong, soft, 
steady light as th$ kerosene oil is ignited 
after being drawn upward by the marvelous 
phenomenon known as capillary attraction—* 
you will learn about that when you study 
physics. There is no doubt that a well-made 
kerosene lamp is less dangerous than a can¬ 
dle, but it still is far from being safe in the 
hands of careless people. Some authorities 
insist that glass lamps should never be used. 
They are easily broken, and it is asserted 
that accidents more easily occur while they 
are lighted. If your family is buying a new 
lamp, take the first step toward safety by 
getting one that is made of metal and has ai 
heavy base; then begin your precautions by 
never filling it except by daylight. After fill¬ 
ing, make sure that the caps and burners 
are tightly screwed into place, and that the 
outside of the reservoir is wiped clean of oil. 

Next comes the question of where the lamp 
should be placed. This is important. See 
that it does not stand too near the edge of a 
table or in any position where it is likely to 
be struck; see, also, that it is not allowed to 
come too close to curtains, paper, or any¬ 
thing which takes fire easily. A little care 
on this point will add a great deal to safety. 

But it is in the use of the lamp that the 
principal precautions are necessary. How 
about the burners? Are they clean? They 
should occasionally be boiled in water con¬ 
taining soda, lye, or a strong soap solution, 
00 that the flame will not smell and sputter. 

[233 


Types of Lamps 



Wrong Right 



Keep the Lamp Away 
from the Edge 






Put Oux the Lamp 
When Leaving 




SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

( ^ g v, 

The wick, of course, should be kept 
smoothly trimmed upon the top, for a flame 
that shoots ..up at one point gives a poor, 
smoky light and may crack the chimney. 
The lower end of the wick should be well 
covered with oil, and the wick should fit 
snugly in the burner. If you notice a little 
open space on either side of the burner, do 
not light the lamp until you have got a new 
wick that fits snugly. Take no chances. 

It is not wise to leave a burning lamp un¬ 
watched for any length of time, and one 
should never leave the house without extin¬ 
guishing it. This is very important where 
there are little children or pet animals in the 
house. While rats and mice cannot exactly 
be considered pet animals, they, too, may up¬ 
set carelessly placed lamps. 

Do not blow out a lamp without first turn¬ 
ing down the flame. Use no lamp that does 
not have a heavy base, for such a one will be 
difficult to overturn. 

Use no oil but the best that can be bought. 
Occasionally, gasoline is sold by mistake for 
kerosene, but any dealer who does this may 
be prosecuted for any damage that results, 
A National Fire Protection Association bul¬ 
letin tells the following story: 

A Narrow Escape 

*1 never really examined the construction of a 
kerosene-lamp until last night,” said a man in a 
Boston lamp store the other evening, “and Fve read 
by them from the time I was warned as a child 
not to touch them until to-day. I filled my lamp 
last night and sat down to read. In a few minutes 
I heard a blowing sound like that of a gasoline torch. 
I glanced about the room but saw nothing. It oc¬ 
curred again. I listened, and the next time it oc¬ 
curred I located it. It was the lamp. I took off the 
green shade and watched the flame. Every minute 
or so it would extend itself upward an inch or so, 
blowing like a gas flame. I never had seen a lamp 

[ 24 ] 
















LIGHTS 


do that, and I didn’t like it. I turned down the wick 
and extinguished it just as my neighbor rapped at 
the window. I let him in and told him about the 
lamp. ‘Let’s see it/ he said. He unscrewed the 
filling-cap and sniffed at it. ‘The deuce!’ he ex¬ 
claimed. ‘You’re burning gasoline !’ 99 

The lamp-man, who had listened to the narrative 
without interruption, nodded his head. 

“Yes,” he said; “I’ve known of such cases. Lucky 
for you the lamp was clean. The heat of the bowl 
was vaporizing the gasoline, and the vapor was es¬ 
caping in puffs up the wick-trfoe and burning like 
gas. Kerosene vaporizes also, but much slower than 
gasoline. The lamps are constructed in the knowl¬ 
edge of this fact.” 

The man who had so narrowly escaped ac¬ 
cident ended the interview by the purchase 
of new burners for all his house-lamps. 

Lanterns are similar to lamps in many re¬ 
spects, but are made to carry from place to 
place. In buying lanterns, make sure of 
three things: First, that the lantern cannot 
easily be upset; second, that the glass chim¬ 
ney is protected by a wire guard; and third, 
that the lantern can be swung or held in any 
position without danger of exploding. Lan¬ 
terns are so often carried into barns where 
hay is stored, or other dangerous places, that 
they always should be well made and care¬ 
fully used. In the course of time, the safer 
and more convenient electric hand-lights 
probably will take their place. 

How to Make a Gas-Light Safe 

So much for kerosene —now for gas. It id 
not many years since all gas-burners were of 
the kind that made flat, spreading flames. 
The gas flame gives a poorer light, costs 
more, and is more dangerous than the gas- 
mantle, but there are still hundreds of thou¬ 
sands of them in use. 

You might think that people would hardly 
need to be reminded that all gas flames , 
everywhere, at all times , should he protected 

[ 25 ] 



Take No Risks with 
Lanterns 







SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



Gas Flames Must Be 
Protected by Globes 


by globes . Surely, common sense ought to 
tell that to anyone after a moment's thought, 
but fire-records prove that thousands of peo¬ 
ple go on using gas flames without globes, 
and allowing them to get in the way of a 
blowing curtain, or to be pushed too near to 
woodwork; and then, presently, they are 
astonished at having a fire. The difference 
between a safe gas flame and one that is 
dangerous is almost always a mere matter 
of a globe. Anyone should be able to see 
that. 

Fortunately, “incandescent” gas-lights are 
to-day more common than gas flames. These 
are the burners that have mantles which 
glow brightly when lighted. All gas-mantles 
have chimneys or globes of some kind, but it 
is important to see that the burner is so 
made that fragments of the heated mantle 
cannot fall out. There have been many fires 
from this cause. It is also important to see 
that nothing which might take fire is allowed 
to hang above the burner; for this form of 
light requires great heat, and the column oij 
heated air is in itself a source of danger. 


Never Use Paper Lighters 
There is an old and bad habit of using 
paper lighters. Millions of people think 
nothing of folding a piece of paper into a 
long lighter and using it to carry flame from 
one place to another. This is always a dan¬ 
gerous thing to do. Almost everyone has seen 
burning fragments of paper fall from such 
lighters. Never use them, especially as the 
safer kinds of matches are easily procured. 

This finishes with the subject of precau¬ 
tions with lights, for electricity and acetylene 
;wili be considered in separate chapters. 

[ 26 ] 






LIGHTS 


Safety Rules for Lights 

For Candles 

1. Be sure that the candlestick will not 
overturn. 

2. Be sure that the candle fits snugly. 

3. Never stick candles into bottles or upon 
boards. 

4. Use mica guards for cloth or paper 
shades. 

5. Keep candles out of drafts and away 
from anything that will catch fire. 


For Lamps 

6. Use metal lamps, not glass ones. 

7. Use only the best quality of oil. 

8. Have lamps with solid, heavy bases. 

9. Be sure that the wick fits snugly. 

10. Keep the burner clean; boil it occasion¬ 
ally with soda, lye, or a strong soap solution. 

11. Keep the wick trimmed evenly. 

12. Fill the lamp by daylight only. 

13. Be sure that cap and burner are tightly 
screwed into place. 

14. Wipe the reservoir clean. 

15. Do not set the lamp near the edge of a 
table or in any place where it may be struck. 

16. Do not set it too close to curtains or 
anything that will take fire easily. 

17. Do not leave a burning lamp too long 
unwatched. 

18. Do not leave the house without ex* 
tinguishing it. 

For Gas 

19. Have no gas flames without globes.- 

20. If you have a gas-mantle burner, be 
sure that pieces of the mantle cannot fall out@ 

21 . Never use paper lighters. 

[ 27 ] 



Never Use Paper, 
Lighters 




Keeping Warm in Zero Weather 
T was hard to leave the warm bed this 
morning. The thermometer stood at close 


A to zero, and there were thick frost pic¬ 
tures on the window panes. Fortunately, 
there was plenty of coal in the cellar, and it 
didn't take long to get the furnace going. By 
breakfast time, the house was comfortable. 

What would we do without stoves and fur¬ 
naces when Jack Frost is outdoors? We 
fcould not live through the winter if we had 
not found a way to have summer weather in 
jihe house, no matter how cold it may be out¬ 
ride. This takes fire, however, and we have 
already learned that fire is always ready to 
escape from control and do damage. Every 
furnace and every stove is a box for fire, and 
millions of fires are built daily in our homes 
<—even in summer time, for it is necessary to 
have fires for cooking. 

You can easily see why it is important to 
learn how to make these fire-boxes safe. As 
it is, the fires which escape from them cause 
more destruction than those coming from 
open lights and the careless use of matches, 
combined. Nearly all of these fires are pre-» 
[2S] 







































STOVES AND FURNACES 

veritable. If people would learn how to take 
precautions, and then would not be careless, 
they would run little danger. Naturally, some 
stoves and furnaces are better than others, 
but even the best of them should not b$ 
treated carelessly. 

The first point to consider is that of plao*> 
ing; the second is that of using . 

The Paint Warning 

Have you ever noticed the paint beginning 
to blister, or the wood beginning to turn 
brown on some door or woodwork near a 
stove, a stovepipe or a heating pipe? Look 
around the house to see if you can find such 
a place. It means danger. It must not be 
neglected—no matter if it has been that way 
for a long time, without anything having 
happened. Often the charring goes on slowly 
until, at last, on some cold night when there 
is an extra hot fire, the moment comes for 
the wood to burst into flames. Such fires are! 
very dangerous, because they often break out 
at night and cause loss of life. 

All that is necessary to prevent this is a 
little common sense. 

All stoves, fufnaces, heating pipes and 
stovepipes should be placed far enough from 
walls and woodwork to prevent overheating. 
Furthermore, the nearest wooden surfaces 
should be covered with sheet asbestos, which 
is better for this purpose than sheet iron or 
tin. If iron or tin is used, it should be sep¬ 
arated from the walls or woodwork by an 
air-space. 

Look Out for Rust Holes 

Examine the stove-pipes—are all the joints 
and connections sound and tight? Are the 
pipes free from rust? If there is rust, there 
[ 29 ] 





Protect the Floor aVld 
the Woodwork 














SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



A Ventilated Thimble 



A Guard Around 
Attio Pipe 


may be rust holes, and it does not take a large 
hole to let a tiny spark escape. One tiny 
spark may cause a fire. 

Pay special attention to the points where 
pipes pass through walls. At such points, the 
pipes should be separated from the wall by 
means of a special kind of metal box called a 
‘‘thimble”—all stove dealers and tinsmiths 
know what that is. This thimble must be 
made of galvanised iron, double-walled and 
ventilated; also, its diameter must be at least 
twelve inches larger than that of the pipe. 
The diagram in the margin will show this. 
How is it in your house? 

Stove pipes in the attic are worth looking 
after. Sometimes in the summer, wood, 
paper or cloth may be stox*ed near to them 
and then forgotten when the cold weather 
comes and hot fires are built. Many fires have 
been caused in this way—you would better 
make a special trip to the attic and see that 
all is safe. Why not fix a guard around the 
attic pipe, so that nothing can be pushed 
against it? 

Protect the Floor 

As to the stove itself, it is important to see 
that the floor beneath is protected by metal. 
This metal must extend at least twelve inches 
in front under the door to the ash pit, for 
sometimes live coals may fall, even when you 
are trying to be careful. Of course, a furnace 
must never set directly upon a wooden floor 

almost anybody would know that. Its base 
should be surrounded with brick, stone or 
concrete. 

Now you know something about the ques¬ 
tion of placing, but the question of using is 

[ 30 ] 














STOVES AND FURNACES 

still more important. Here again carefulness 
and common sense will make you safe. 

For example: no one should ever think of 
pouring kerosene upon a fire, for the blaze 
will run up the oil stream to the can, and 
cause an explosion. It all happens in a mo¬ 
ment, and many foolish people have been 
terribly burned in this way. Never pour 
kerosene upon even an unlighted fire, for it 
forms a bad habit. Any combination of kero¬ 
sene with coal or wood is dangerous to life 
and property. It is wisest to remove tempta¬ 
tion by keeping the kerosene can in an out¬ 
building. 

$3,000 a Day for Hot Ashes 

Again, in removing ashes, remember that 
fcoals may be dangerously hot, even when 
they do not glow. They must never be 
placed in wooden boxes or barrels. Hot ashes 
cause an average fire loss of over $3,000 a 
day in the United States, principally through 
carelessness in this' matter. Everyone should 
have a strong metal ash can. It is hardly 
necessary to saj^ that one should be careful 
to keep ashes from falling upon the floor. 
The floor, as already stated, should be spe¬ 
cially protected at the point where ashes are 
removed. 

The Fire Marshal of Illinois gives the fol¬ 
lowing example of the dangers that lurk in 
hot ashes when handled by careless people: 

About a year ago I was in the city of Chicago 
when one of these unnecessary fires blotted out of 
existence an entire block of property. At about 
nine o’clock on a bitterly cold night an alarm of fire 
was sounded from the south side, and. upon the arrival 
of the fire department, a large, magnificent apart¬ 
ment house on Oakwood Boulevard was found to be 
in flames. Within the next hour, $400,000 worth of 
property was destroyed and fifty families were 
turned cut into the street. The day before had been 

[ 31 ] 



The Floor Covering 
Must Extend Beneath 
the Ashpit 



Never Put Ashes in 
Wooden Barrels of 
Boxes 

















SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

warm and pleasant, and a sudden drop to zero weather 
that day caused intense suffering among these people, 
thrown out of doors in the middle of the night. Upon 
investigation, I found thlat a careless janitor had 
thrown hot ashes and cinders near a pile of rubbish 
and thus destroyed this beautiful building and im¬ 
periled the lives of two or three hundred people. 

It is necessary that one should make a 
study of the drafts and dampers in order to 
learn how the best results may be obtained 
with the smallest use of fuel, and also to 
make sure that no metal work shall become 
red-hot. A red-hot stove or pipe is always 
dangerous. 

Soot is Expensive 

Do you know that soot is dangerous and 
expensive? When stovds and furnaces have 
been burned for some time, there will gen¬ 
erally be deposits of soot at various points. 
It is important to keep the stoves, flues and 
chimneys clean. This will save fuel and in¬ 
crease the heat; it also will remove danger. 
When a stove smokes, it is unsafe, for the 
gas from the smoke may cause an explosion. 
Remember also that a clean chimney cannot 
stovepipe# 0ut of take ^ re * -^ res ^ rom burning chimneys, or 
live sparks from excessive fires in stoves and 
furnaces, often set fire to wooden roofs. 

Re sure that your family has someone 
carefully inspect the chimneys and flues occa¬ 
sionally to see that they are sound. It costs 
the people of the United States over twelve 
million dollars a year in fire losses to neglect 
this precaution. 

One should not dry wood in an oven. It is 
a well-known form of fire hazard. 

Be careful not to hang wet clothing too 
near a stove for drying. One may be called 
from the room, and fail to notice when the 
Clothing has begun to scorch. It is always 
[32] 




STOVES, AND: EURNACE& 

'wisest to proceed slowly and safely. Of 
course, curtains should not hang near a stove 
or pipe. 

The precautions for gas, gasoline, kerosene 
and electric stoves will be taken up in later 
lessons. 

If the rules of this one lesson were always 
followed, it would save the people of the 
TJnited States almost $70,000 a day . Think 
of what $70,000 would buy! Will you not 
help in this saving, and begin by making your 
own home safe? 

Safety Rules for Stoves and Furnaces 
In Placing 

1. Place stoves,. furnaces "and pipes far 
enough from walls and woodwork to avoid 
overheating. 

2. Cover the nearest wooden surfaces with 
sheet asbestos, sheet iron or tin; if iron 
or tin is used, leave an air space behind it. 

3. Where stovepipes or heating pipes pass 
through walls, enclose the pipes in gal¬ 
vanized iron, double-walled, ventilated 
thimbles at least twelve inches wider 
than the diameter of the pipes. 

4. Protect the floor beneath the stove with 
sheet metal, and have it extend forward 
at least twelve inches directly beneath 
the door td the ashpit. 

IS. Surround the base of the furnace with 
brick, stone or concrete. 

g. Make sure that all pipes are free from 
rust, and that all joints and connections 
are sound and tight. 

f7. Fix a guard about the pipe in the attic 
" so that nothing may be stored againstsit. 
In Using 

fL Never pour kerosene into a coal or wood 

£ 33 ] 


SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 


stove, even when the fire is out. 

9. Never put ashes into wooden boxes or 
barrels; have a strong metat-can. 

10. Study the drafts and dampers. 

11. Do not let the stove or pipes become red- 
hot. 

12. Keep stoves, furnaces, flues and chimneys 
clean. 

13. Inspect the chimneys and flues to be sure 
that they are sound. 

14. Do not dry wood in an oven. 

15. Do not hang wet clothing too near to a; 
stove. 

16. Keep curtains and other cloth away from 
stoves and pipes. 



Two Kinds of Pictures 

S EATED comfortably before an open fire* 
older people sometimes speak of the pic¬ 
tures that they see in the heart of the* 
flame. Of course they do not mean real pic¬ 
tures, but memories of past scenes that come* 
back to them as they watch the flames. 

The firemen and the insurance men also see 
pictures in the fire, but theirs are of a differ¬ 
ent kind. Their memories show them pic¬ 
tures of burning scraps of paper flying up 
chimneys to lodge on the shingle roof and set 
it on fire. They see pictures of sparks snap- 
f ping out into the room upon curtains or per¬ 
haps upon the light dress of some one sitting 
quietly in the chimney-corner. These things 
they see, and more besides. They see red-hot 
embers falling out upon the carpet after the 
family has retired and they see dreadful pic¬ 
tures of little children coming too close to the 
hearth and being terribly burned. 

They know that all of these distressing 
things are really quite unnecessary, but come 
from the foolish American habit of careless¬ 
ness. It is perfectly easy to bum papers in the 
stove where they can do no harm; it is~*not 
^difficult to be sure that the fire is out before 



Have a 
an Open 


[351 
































SAFEGUARDING THE ROME 



JPut Out the Grate Fire 
Before Giving to. Bed 



The "Wrong Way to 
Thaw Frozen Pipes 


going to bed and it does not cost much to buy 
a wire screen to place before the fire. It may 
cost a little more to replace the shingle roof 
with one that will not bum, but it is worth 
the extra expense. 

There is one other precaution which ought 
always to be taken—that is the choosing of 
safe fuel. Hard, or anthracite, coal burns 
quietly and does not snap; soft, or bitu¬ 
minous, coal burns with more of a flame, 
while chestnut and some other woods con¬ 
stantly snap and shoot out spa!rks. If such 
wood must be used, great care should be 
taken to have a high, tight fire-screen. 

Sometimes, on a frosty morning, you will 
go to the faucet to,turn on the water and the 
water will not run. The pipes are frozen and 
must be thawed out. 

It may seem strange to speak of this in a 
lesson on open: fires, but it is a fact that 
frozen water-pipes cause many, many fires 
every winter. And they are such foblish, un¬ 
necessary fires! If people would thaw out 
the pipes properly by pouring hot water upon 
them, there would be no danger. But when 
they use flame for the purpose, as many do, 
they are almost inviting their houses to bum 
down. Think of losing your home upon an 
icy day because someone was too careless to 
pOur hot water upon the frozen pipes. 

“Bone-Fires” and Bonfires 

But fires out-of-doors must not be over¬ 
looked—bonfires, for example. Boys and 
girls enjoy bonfis^s, and probably very few 
of them ever heard that the word was once 
spelled “bone-fire,and meant a fire of bones. 

The danger from outdoor flres comes from 
that same old fault of carelessness. Children 
[36] 











OPEN FIRES 


seem to go wild with excitement when watch¬ 
ing a fire and take alhsorts of foolish chances. 
There is an old saying that “the burned child 
dreads the fire,” but if the child would dread 
the fire first, he would not be burned. Every 
one of the shooting sparks, every flame, every 
glowing ember has the power to set fire to 
clothes and to cause suffering. Fire may be 
fascinating to watch, but it is always, always 
dangerous—it must always be treated with 
care. 

This carefulness must begin when the fire 
is first started. Do not light a fire if there is 
a wind blowing, for sparks will travel farther 
than you think. Do not build a fire where 
there is any chance of its spreading to leaves, 
dry grass, moss, or v/ood. Never build it 
against a tree, because it may kill the tree. 
Do not build too big a fire, and do not poke it 
or stand too close. And the mGst important^ 
rule is this: Never leave the fire until you 
pre SURE that the last spark is out . If you 
Anust leave it before it burns out, throw water 
or earth upon the embers, but always make 
sure . 

It really is not wise to burn dead leaves, as 
many people do every fall, for if leaves are 
buried they will decay and make a rich loam 
for the garden. 

/ 

Picnickers and Campers 

All that has been said of bonfires applies to 
camp-fires. People who go on holidays often 
feel such freedom that they take reckless 
chances. They gather together a few sticks, 
boil their coffee or fry their fish over the 
blaze, and then forget about the fire, it-syill 
go out, they think, when perhaps it may 
smolder for hours until a gust Gf wind fans it 



The Right Way to 
Thaw Frozen Pipes 



Put Out Every Spark 
When \Leaving Open 
Fires 


E3T3 









SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

again into flame and it begins to spread over 

the country. 

Forest-fires are caused in this way. Any¬ 
one who has ever witnessed a real forest-fire. 
Who has been half choked by the smoke, has 
seen the anxious faces of the people living 
near, and has watched the fire-fighters in 
their scorched clothing as they used their 
spades, shovels, and their wet blankets, ought 
to need no further education in the necessity 
for fire-prevention. 

Thousands of lives have been lost and mil¬ 
lions of acres of good timber-land have been 
burned in this country just because campers 
were careless. 

Safety Rules for Open Fires' 

1. Don’t build bonfires for fun. 

2. If you must build outdoor fires, be sure 
that they are cold before you leave them. 

3. Don’t set dead trees afire. Sometimes 
they will burn for days. 

4. Before lighting an open fire, be sure 
that it is completely enclosed in a stout wire 
jscreen. 

5. Keep children from playing too near the 
Sire, screen or no screen. 

6. Don’t throw large pieces of loose paper 
tjupon an open fire. 

7. Make absolutely certain that the fire is 
put before going to bed at night. 

8. Don’t say, “I guess it’s all right.” 

9. Thaw frozen pipes with hot water, not 
with flame. 


[381 




Sunrise and Smoke 


H AVE you ever taken a long drive in 
the country very early in the morn¬ 
ing:? Then you must have noticed 
that from the chimney of each house there 
rose a little plume of smoke. That meant 
that some early riser was beginning 1 the new 
day with the little sacrament of lighting the 
household fire. 

As soon as we arise for the day, we think— 
of breakfast, for we have a fast to break , 
but we are too civilized to eat our breakfast 
raw; a fire must be kindled to cook it. There¬ 
fore, all over the" world, the rising sun is 
greeted by smoke from the chimneys of mil¬ 
lions of homes. 

In times past, this fire was kindled on the 
floor or outside the door on the bare ground, 
but we, being wiser, put our fire in that iron 
box which we call a stove. There it 'would 
be safe enough, no doubt, if we did not use it 
with that reckless carelessness of which yon 
have read in all these lessons. 

Early in the morning the cook, or some 
one else, comes into the kitchen with the 
sleep scarcely out of her eyes. She puts 
newspapers and kindlings into the stove and 
lights them, then adds a little coal. Soon 
there is heat enough for the breakfast to be 
looked. % > 



Cooking the Breakfast 


[ 39 ] 




















I 



‘Smothering Flames 
With a Metal Cover 


I 

I 



IN'ever Polish & 
Jlot Stove 


SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

Up to this point, everything has been safe 
enough, but it never seems to occur to some 
cooks that great^care is required in frying 
and broiling, because fat is brought close to 
flame, and fat will most readily take fire. If 
this should happen, there may be no danger 
unless the cook becomes excited and allows 
the burning fat to fall upon the floor. It is 
i well to remember not to use water upon burn =■ 
mg fat because it may spread the flames . 
The best way to smother these flames is with 
a metal cover. When fat takes fire, it docs 
so with a sudden leap of flame; therefore, 
neither paper nor cloth should ever be kept 
near to the stove. 

. Red-hot Stoves? Never! 

In the course of the day, the stove is filled 
With coal again anct again. There is food 
to be baked and roasted, water to be boiled, 
preserves to be put up, and no end of other 
things to be done. It is a common fault with 
many cooks to let the stove g@t red hot, which 
4 is about the worst"possible thing that canbe 
done to a stove. There is no excuse for a red- 
hot stove; none whatever! Fuel is wasted; 
the stove becomes warped, and danger lurks 
for all who are in the house. 

Some people place papers below the burn¬ 
ers of gas- or kerosene-ranges in order to 
catch the drippings. Of course, these per- 
\ sons would realize that they know'better if 
they would only, stop to think. 

* Precautions in the disposal of ashes have 
already been explained, but the cleaning of 
the stove is also a fire-peril. Many kinds of 
stove-polish contain gasoline or benzine, both 
of which are highly inflammable substances. 
They are.used for cleaning purposes because 

m 









COOKING AND CLEANING 


they are what are called “good solvents," 
which means that they dissolve dirt as hot 
Water dissolves sugar. We all know that if 
a little sugar is caked on a plate, it can be 
dissolved by hot water and then easily wiped 
away, leaving the plate perfectly clean. For 
the same reason, the dirt on the stove can be 
wiped away after it has been dissolved, but 
benzine is too dangerous for use about a 
stove. There are safe polishes, and these 
should be asked fqr, since hundreds of seri¬ 
ous accidents have come from using benzine 
stove polishes. Even then it is a good rule 
never to bring polish near to a hot stove; it 
is a good safety-habit. 

Look Out for Cleaning Compounds! 

Many other cleaning compounds are quite 
^as dangerous as these stove-polishes, because 
^ihey contain the same inflammable ingredi¬ 
ents. It is always wise to be suspicious of 
every cleaning or polishing preparation un¬ 
til you are absolutely sure about its charac- 
, ter. There are, for example, "sweeping- 
compounds" to be sprinkled on the floor be¬ 
fore the room is swept. These are fire-perils 
if they contain animal or vegetable oils, be¬ 
cause the oil-soaked sweepings may ignite 
by spontaneous combustion. This is dis¬ 
cussed in the next lesson* We shall have a 
separate lesson upon gasoline, which causes 
thousands of fires every year. 

It is a common practice to use oil or wax 
upon wooden floors and^Upon furniture, and 
this, if proper care be used, need not be a 
source of danger. Such care would consist 
in using only small quantities of oil or wax 
at a time, leaving no free oil upon the rubbed 
[41] 



Buy Stove Polishes 
That Ara Safe 



Be Sure that the 
Gleaning Compound 
Will mt Burn, 









SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

surface, and also in being careful not to ap¬ 
proach too close to a fire while working with 
oil or wax. The danger of storing oily rags 
will be especially referred to in the next 
lesson. 

Safety Rules for Cooking and Cleaning ^ 

1. Don’t leave the stove while broiling is 
being done. 

2. Don’t pour water on burning fat; use 
earth, sand, flour, salt, or a metal cover. 

3. Never let a stove get red hot. ' 

4. Be careful not to use stove-polish on a 
hot stove; wait until it is cold. 

5. Don’t use any kind of stove-polish or 
other cleaning mixture unless you know what 
Is in it; buy the safe kinds. 

6. Don’t leave sweepings in a piece of 
paper; put them in the stove. 

7. In handling oil or wax, use only small ^ 
quantities at a time; wipe thoroughly the 
surfaces you have rubbed with rags, and 
then burn the rags. 


* 42 ] 






A Test of Citizenship 

€ 4 rp ELL me what you do with your 
rubbish/’ said the fireman, “and 
Fli tell you what sort of citizen you 
are. If you dispose carefully of every bit 
of your broken furniture, all your old news¬ 
papers, your oily rags, your worn-out cloth¬ 
ing, and all rubbish of that kind, you are & 
good citizen, but if you allow them to ac¬ 
cumulate you not only are a bad citizen but a 
menace to your neighbors. 

“What makes such things catch fire? It 
may be the heat from the furnace, a spark 
from a cigarette, a candle dropped by some 
one, the torch of a plumber-—sometimes they 
are very careless fellows, these plumbers—* 
or, perhaps, they just catch fire from what is 
called ‘spontaneous combustion/ 

“You don’t know what spontaneous eom- 
t bustion is? It is a fire that starts itself! ft 
has been discovered that cotton waste, oily 
rags, moist hay, and certain other-things, if 
left to themselves, will grow hotter and hot¬ 
ter and finally burst into dame. There was 
once a nice new church that was destroyed 
that very way. It had just been finished, 
aim on the afternoon before the day set for 
the first sendee, some of the 
'pngregation wiped 
loth& 



Keep Oily Raya 
Metal Cana 










SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



Rubbish Out of 
ttio 


going home, one of them suggested that it 
was a pity to throw away the new dusters, 
and Accordingly they were put into a closet 
for safe keeping. In the night the church 
;was entirely destroyed by fire. The cloths in 
the closet had caught fire by spontaneous 
combustion. A painter I once heard of was 
up on a ladder painting a house; he used 
cloths to wipe the turpentine from his hands. 
After he had done this a number of times, 
each time putting the rags back into his 
pocket, the pocket suddenly caught fire, and 
he was badly burned before he could get down 
to the ground. 

“So remember that if you don’t bum your * 
rubbish it may suddenly start to bum all by 
itself and perhaps in the middle of the night. 

“Do you see that beautiful hbuse across 
the way? Its lawns are rolled and clipped, 
its flower-beds are carefully tended, its 
"gravel paths are smooth, it has a rose bush 
over the door and bright-colored awnings at 
every window, and yet that house is more 
dangerous to its neighbors than a German 
aeroplane dropping bombs. I had occasion 
to make ah inspection there one day, and 
Ibis is what I found: 

V 



What Was Found in the Cellar 
“In the cellar and also under that piazza, 
are the barrels and packing-boxes that were 
used when the family moved in, also the ex¬ 
celsior that came around the new parlor 
dock, a few old chairs and tables, a disabled / 
rocking-ho^se and several, boxes of maga* 
zines. In tlie garret there are any . number ■ 
of old straw hats, two or three broke] 
tresses, a lot of old clothes hanging on 

. 144] 






CUBBISH 


t^o trunks full of old letters, and 1 forget 
;what(e3se. On the second floor I found that 
the good lady of the house was keeping 
all her light summer dresses in a closet which 
had a steam-pipe passing through it. Now, 
if you will look at the house again, you will 
see that whoever raked the lawn has piled 
up a big mound of leaves near the steps of 
the side door and has gone away. Even 
dead leaves sometimes take fire from spon¬ 
taneous combustion. Do you wonder that 
every time the gong rings in the engine- 
house, I think of this building? I know that 
when it burns, the whole block may bum 
with it, if there is a strong wind, and then 
people will blame the fire department for 
li@t being more efficient. 

“Oh, you live next door, do you? Then 1 
would suggest that you make a little call 
upon these people and tell them a few things 
about their duty to their neighbors. They 
- might be interested to know that fires from 
spontaneous combustion alone cost more than 
ten million dollars a year in the United States. 

“By the way, before you call upon your 
neighbors, how about your own house—is 
there rubbish in your cellar? What is that— 
the lumber from the old hen-house which 
was tom down is stored there? Hm—your 
case is different because that wood is to be 
used for kindlings; is that it? There's a 
grocer's boy going into your house now, and 
it looks to me as if he were carrying kindling- 
wood from the store. Oh, the man who was 
going to cut up the wood didn't come on the 
day he promised and th^xi the matter was 
forgotten. I've heard of such cases before, 
pa the whole, I think you would better not 



Bake Up the Dry* 
heaves 



[ 45 ] 




SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



try to advise your neighborhood until your 
own house is in order. — 

Having a “Clean-up Day” 

“What you people need is a neighborhood 
'Clean-up Day* in which you could get out all 
this rubbish and burn it. Of course, it would 
have to be a day without wind, and you would 
need several pails of water nearby in case of 
emergency. I don’t ask you to bum up wood 
that could be split up into Are-wood; get 
somebody to put in a few days workmen it, 
but I do ask you to burn all that worthless 
trash that is, without doubt, in almost every 
garret and cellar in town. Sometimes, you 
will be surprised to find that there are really 
valuable things hidden away in the rubbish 
piles—old furniture or crockery that can be 
sold to some dealer in “antiques.” Leaves 
should not be burned, because they fly about 
when on fire—even on windless days. They 
should be buried where they can enrich the 
soil. 

“Always remember that a clean house sel¬ 
dom burns unless a dirty house sets fire to 
it, and by a 'dirty* house I mean a house 
where all kinds of silly junk is preserved as 
if it were of the greatest value. 

“Also, don’t forget that accumulations of 
dirt and rubbish are frequently a source of 
disease. From every point of view they are 
wasteful, unsightly, and dangerous, and 
they tend to lower the moral standards of 
people who tolerate them.” 

Safety Rules for Rubbish 
1. Keep things tidy; don’t allow rubbish te* 
accumulate anywhere in the house or near it. 



m 













RUBBISH 


2. If you keep oily cloths, put them into a 
metal box or can with a cover. 

3. If you learn that anyone is keeping oily 
rags outside of metal containers, it is your 
duty to report it. 

4. Don’t pile dead leaves against anything 
that will burn. They sometimes ignite of 
themselves. 

5. Bury leaves; don’t burn them. 

6. Don’t have old pieces of lumber clutter¬ 

ing up your basement. Have them cut up 
into kindlings and then piled in a proper 
place. ~ 



Bury T7e aveS'~~Bo pJI? 
Bum. Thom 




r A Strange Fountain 

A FEW years ago, some men were bor¬ 
ing into the ground in eastern Mexico 
not far from the shore of the Gulf, 
fThey had a big wooden derrick rigged over 
the hole, and the drill was tap-tapping away, 
down in the earth when, suddenly, there was 
a rush and a roar—the ground trembled, 
and a great fountain of thick, greenish-black 
strong-smelling liquid gushed up into the air. 
Higher and higher it went—hundreds of feet 
high—and, as it fell back upon the earth, 
rivers of crude oil began to run off in vari- 
JQUB directions. For five days it continued 
to pour at the rate of a million barrels a day. 
It is hard even to imagine such an amount. 

While this was the biggest oil-well ever 
discovered, there are thousands of others, big 
and little ones, in various parts of the world. 
‘Many of these are in the United States, and 
the boys and girls in the oil regions know 
that this crude oil, or petroleum, which comes 
from the ground in such immense quantities 
is one of the most valuable things in tha 
iworld. They know that it gives us kerosene 
for our lamps and gasoline for our automo¬ 
biles, also paraffin for our candles, and lubri¬ 
cating oils for our machinery, as well as 
other things. 


$ 











KEROSENE 


Seneca Oil 


This strange precious fluid, is so important 
that it is hard to see how we cold run the 
World without it; yet the world knew little 
about it until less than, a hundred years ago. 
Early in the nineteenth century, under the 
name of “Seneca Oil,” it was used as a lini¬ 
ment near Seneca Lake in New York state. 
Then in 1829, it was discovered in Kentucky 
and sold for a time as “American Medicinal 
Oil.” Still later, it was discovered that there 
were large quantities in Pennsylvania, and 
then people began to wonder whether per¬ 
haps it couldn't be used for light in place of 
whale-pil and candles. 

They tried it, but it made a smoky flame 
and burned with a. strong smell. It didn't 
seem to be good for much. 

But other people said, “Perhaps this oil 
would be all right to burn if we could take 
but its impurities”-—and they began to ex¬ 
periment. Finally, they discovered a way 
, to separate petroleum into various different 
oils andN gases. One of these oils burned 
with a strong, clear light, and soon every¬ 
body saw that it was exactly what the world 
was looking for. "It was named “kerosene.” 
To-day it is used in millions of homes for 
lighting, cooking and heating. 



A -Gushing Gil Well 




Good and Bad 


Kerosene is a good servant and kerosene is 
a bad servant. It is a good, safe, and help¬ 
ful servant to careful people, but with care¬ 
less people it sometimes burns up homes. Let 
us study to make it safe. 

If you have paid attention to the directions 
under ^Lights,” you know how kerosene may 
[ 48 ] 



SAFEGUARDING THE HOME ^ 

be used.in lamps without any danger. The 
rules in regard to oil-heaters, oil-cookers, 
etc., are much the same. The stoves must be 
well made, free from leaks, and hard to 
overturn. The burners must be kept clean, 
and the flames must not be turned too high. 
It is a good idea to have a sheet of metal or 
asbestos beneath an oil-stove. 

It is difficult to believe that anybody could 
be so foolish as to try to start a coal or wood 
fire with kerosene, but many people still are 
terribly injured in this way. Torn back to 
the warning on page 31. It must never be 
forgotten. 



Fill Lamp# by 
Daylight Only 


Common Sense with Oil-Cans , 

You must also use common sense about 
your oil-can. Keep it in an outbuilding if 
possible. Be sure that the floor beneath it 
does not become soaked with oil in filling 
lamps. Make certain that the filler-cap is 
secure and that the faucet does not drip. 
Never keep a can for a single day after it 
has begun to leak. If you cannot mend the 
leak at once, throw the can away and get 
a new one. 

Lastly, always fill your lamps and oil- 
stoves by daylight and fill them only when 
they are cold. Keep lights and flames away 
from uncovered kerosene. The home where 
these rules are practised is the careful home, 
Where kerosene will be a good and helpful 
servant. 


Safety Rules for Kerosene 

1. Study the lamp rules under “Lights.” 

2. Be sure that oil-heaters and -cookers do 
hot leak and that they will not overturn. 

[50] 









KEROSENE, 


8. Keep their burners clean and do not turn 
the flames too high. 

4. Keep the oil-can outside of the house, if 
possible. 

5HDo not let the floor beneath the can be¬ 
come oil-soaked. 

6. Make sure that the can does not leak 
nor drip. 

7. Never leave oil uncovered. 

8. Fill by daylight only any receptacle in 
which oil is to be burned. 

9. Never start a coal or wood fire with oil. 

















N O one who has ever read that delight* 
ful old book, “The Arabian Nights," 
will easily forget the story of the 
^enie in the bottle. You remember that as 
long as his-bottle was kept tightly fastened, 
lie Was harmless and invisible, but that, the 
instant he was allowed to escape, he became 
a terrible giant, able to do a vast amount cf 
harm. , 

The subject of this lesson-gasoline—is 
very much like that genie. So long as it is 
deprived of liberty and kept under proper 
control, gasoline will drive motor-trucks* 
Automobiles, and boats, and wifi work on 
farms or in factories. But let it once have 
An opportunity to escape, and it will take 
human life, burn down houses? cause terrible 
explosions, and behave generally like a very 
Wicked giant indeed. 

Gasoline, like kerosene, is derived from 
crude petroleum but is far more volatile. 
JWhat does “volatile” mean? Well, you 
Imow that water in an open dish will dry up 
After a while, because it, slowly changes into 
An invisible gas and disappears. Gasoline 
goes the same thing, but it vaporizes much 

mi 





GASOLINE 


faster than water, and that is what we meaii 
when we say that it is very volatile. Gaso¬ 
line vapor is extremely dangerous; it is not 
disseminated in the atmosphere but sinks 
slowly to the ground. Sometimes it will set¬ 
tle to the floor of a room and flow along lik© 
the water of a streapi, filling every hole and 
cranny that it can find and remaining thera 
perhaps for days. In changing into vapor, 
gasoline expands so enormously that one gal¬ 
lon will produce eight thousand cubic feet bf 
gas, which means that a tank twenty feet 
square would be required to hold it. When 
this gas is mixed with air, it becomes an ex¬ 
plosive much more powerful than dynamite 
and much mere easy to set on fire. Perhaps 
you have seen men engaged in blasting and 
^ have noticed how the small yellow sticks will 
tear solid rock to pieces. Who would be 
foolish enough to leave dynamite lying 
around? Yet it would take eighty-three 
pounds to do as much damage as the vapor 
from one gallon of gasoline, and people often 
handle gasoline as carelessly as though it 
could do no harm. That is why- there are sq 
many terrible accidents from its use. 



The Spreading Fumes 
Take, for example, the matter of cleaning# 

It may seem a great convenience that we can 
so easily clean our gloves and clothes with 
gasoline,, but' it is an extremely dangerous 
f practise and one which has caused great loss 
of life and property. The fumes of the gaso¬ 
line spread out in all directions, and if they 
^ come in contact with a lighted cigar, a burn¬ 
ing gas-jet, a glowing coal in the fireplace, 

' or even the merest spark, an explosion in¬ 
stantly takes place with a'resulting flash of 

^ [ 53 ] ^ 



SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

flame which sets fire to whatever inflamma¬ 
ble matter it touches. When we realize that 
a nail in one's shoe striking against a me¬ 
tallic object may produce a spark, and that 
sparks may even be caused by the friction of 
rubbing gloves together while cleaning them, 
the countless opportunities for gasoline vapor 
to ignite and explode become apparent. Then 
when we remember that five cents worth of 
gasoline is sufficient to blow up an ordinary 
house, we can understand the necessity of 
keeping the gasoline genie tightly corked in 
his bottle. 

The inflammability of gasoline fumes is 
amazing. In one case, these fumes were car¬ 
ried outside a building to a lighted lamp 
thirty feet away, where they took fire and 
flashed back to the building, which was en¬ 
tirely destroyed. In another, the mere open¬ 
ing of a door between the room where gaso¬ 
line was beings used to clean gloves and & 
room in which there was a lighted lamp 
caused a destructive explosion. A chauffeur 
was cleaning his automobile one evening us¬ 
ing an electric flash-light for illumination in 
carder to be perfectly safe. A part of the 
lamp which was not insulated struck the 
metal rim and foot-board, producing a spark. 
In the fire that resulted, his little daughter 
was burned to death and the garage war * 
destroyed. 

Never Pour Gasoline Into the Sink 

Gasoline must never be allowed to remain 
In an open vessel or in any can or bottle that s 
is not tightly corked. It should never be 
poured down a sink, because the fumes may 
pass through the sewer and come up in some 
other house. Do not use gasoline at all in a 
[ 54 ] 



GASOLINE 


room which has a light; in fact, all cleaning 
by gasoline—dangerous in any circumstance 
should be done by daylight and out of 
doors. It is still better to use some cleaning 
fluid which will not take fire. Such safe 
preparations can be bought at any drug 
©tore. 

.Never keep gasoline or benzine in a glass 
bottle; for, if the bottle be dropped it is 
liable to break and let the liquid escape. In 
many states,^ the law provides that any recep¬ 
tacle containing gasoline for the retail trade 
must be bright red in color, with the word 
“Gasoline” in a different color. 

There is one precaution against gasoline 
fires which always should be taken. When 
an automobile stops at a garage and takes 
on several gallons of “gas,” as it is often 
called*. there is always a slight smell of gaso¬ 
line in the air; this means that, despite every 
care, there has been a slight leakage some¬ 
where. It is very necessary, therefore, that 
no one should smoke in an automobile which 
is receiving gasoline. The larger gasoline 
cans must always be kept away from the 
house. The safest place for gasoline in quan¬ 
tity is in underground tanks. 

. Should one be so unfortunate as to have 
a gasoline or a kerosene fire occur in a garage 
V house, it is foolish to pour water upon it; 
Kter will Spread the fiames. Earth or sand 
g be thrown upon the fire to smother it, 
^ough the use of a chemical extinguisher 
jen better. Sometimes a woolen rug or a 
^thrown over the fire will put it out in- 
|jy, but there should be a chemical ex- 
y^sher in every garage. 
err all, the best and safest thing we can- 



There Must 
Smoking W. 
mobiles Are Filled. 














/ 



Smothering Burning 
Gasoline 9 


SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 


do is to keep our gasoline genie where he 
can do us no harm. 

Safety Rules for Gasoline 

1. Always remember that you must take nof 
fchances with gasoline ; it is one of the most 
dangerous materials in common use. 

2. It must always be kept in tightly fas- 
tened'cans; never in glass bottles. • 

3. It should never be uncovered within the 
house, nor at any point where its fumes can 
travel to an open flame, a live coal, or a spark. 

4. Do not use it for cleaning, if you can get 
a safe cleaning preparation. 

5. Gasoline in quantity should be kept in 
underground tanks. 

6. No one should be allowed to smoke in 
a garage. 

7. No one should be allowed to smoke in 
an automobile while its gasoline tank is being 
filled. 


8. Do not use water upon a gasoline or 
kerosene fire; use a chemical extinguisher, or 
else throw earth or sand upon it—try to 
smother it*. 



tm 


may 

some 

il in & 




From a Red Tank to Your House 

I Y you live in a city, you probably havd 
illuminating gas in your house. You need 
only to turn a key, and out there will flow 
an invisible, strong-smelling gas, which will 
take Are instantly from an applied flame. 

This gas comes from a small pipe, and if 
you could follow this pipe you would find it 
joining a longer and larger pipe buried in 
the street, a pipe that runs underground 
from one of those huge red tanks to be seen., 
on the edge of almost every large town. Per¬ 
haps you have wondered^ why these tanks 
were down so low in the morning and why 
they rose slowly all day, until by evening 
they stood high up in the air. Again, some¬ 
body may have explained that the invisible 
gas, which pours into them aH day long, has 
such power that it can lift the heavy iron 
tanks as they are filled with the gas in the . 
daytime. / 

Our fathers had artificial gas, and so did 
many of our grandfathers, but the chances * 
are that our great-grandfathers never saw 
it used until they grew up. It is another of v 
those now familiar things which the world 
had to get along without for thousands of 
years. It is usually made by distilling coal, 
or by mixing water-gas and oil under certain 
conditions. 


1571 

















JP%Vsf, Open Boors and 
Winnows 



Then Find Leah, But 
Do Not Use a Match 


SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 
The Gas That Comes from the Ground, 

Strangely enough, people learned how td 
make and use this artificial gas a good many 
years before they discovered that there were 
immense stores of natural gas deep in tha 
ground at a number of points. Natural gas 
is now being piped and used in many states* 
The records of The National Board of Fire 
Underwriters show that the use of gas (both 
natural and artificial) causes fire damage of 
about five thousand dollars a day in the 
United States. It is a very familiar fire 
cause. You will remember that the dangers 
arising from the use of gaslights were dis¬ 
cussed under “Lights.” It will be wise, as a‘ 
part of this lesson, to reread the warnings 
against gas flames without globes, against 
gas-fixtures near y/oodwork or curtains, 
against swinging brackets, and against the 
wrong kind of gas-mantle Jburners, as given 
©n page 26. 

At first, gas was used only for lighting pur¬ 
poses, but now it is much used for both cook¬ 
ing and heating also. There are any num¬ 
ber of different kinds of gas-stoves. Some 
are small enough to set or. gas-fixtures, and 
some are large ranges. It is always import¬ 
ant to be sure that they are tight and well 
made, for a hole or a drack too small to be 
noticed will let gas escape, and the gas m 
generally under such pressure that it will 
come pouring out and mix with the air of 
the room. Then beware! Gas in the room 
may cause death after it has been breathed 
for a short time, or it may make with the 
air a mixture so explosive that a spark or 
a flame will cause a terrible disaster. 

A leaky gas-fixture or pipe, or a gas-jet; 

mi 











GAS 


left turned on without being lighted, is 
deadly tHihg. There are fires from these 
causes almost every day. No one knows how 
many people are killed or burned and blinded 
because of them. 

Never Look for a Leak With a Match 

If, at any time, you notice the odor of es¬ 
caping gas, first open the doors and windows; 
then find the leak at once. Do not strike a 
match while searching. Do not take with 
you a lighted candle or lamp, or any other 
flame. Use an electric flashlight, if you'have 
one, or else trace the leak by its smell alone. 

When you find the leak stop it by turning 
off theffcey which may have been left partly 
open, or by screwing up the joint which may 
have worked loose. But if you^eannot find 
the leak, or if it comes from something tha^ 
you cannot fix, turn off the gas at the metes? 
and send at once for a gasfitter. The gaa 
must not be lighted in the house until every-# 
thing i3 sound and tight'once more. 

Sometimes, when people buy flexible tub¬ 
ing, the dealer may show them several kinds, 
some of metal and some of rubber. Perhaps, 
if they feel economical, they will buy the 
cheapest kind offered, without stopping to_ 
realize-that by doing so they may be risking 
their lives. Cheap rubber gas-tubing is about 
as dangerous as anything which can be used 
in the home. It soon begins to crack, as low- 
grade rubber will *do, and then, of course, the 
gas escapes. Well-made flexible metal tubing 
is far safer. The Ohio fire marshal says: 

The rubber tube as a transmitter of gas in houses 
has slain its thousands among the twelve millions 
now using natural gas—murdered them silently by 
Suffocation, or noisily by explosion. 

[ 59 ] 



If You Cannot Fix thm 
Leak, Turn Off the 
Gas at the Meier 



And Bend at Onoo /or 

the Gas-Fitter • 





SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



Never Buy Low Grade 
Tubing for Qaa Stoves 


1 


It is important to see that the tubing* is 
very solidly attached at both ends, and even 
the best flexible tubing should not be used 
when it is possible to make connections by 
light iron, pipe put in place by a competent 
gasfitter. 

In some states, natural gas is so widely 
used for household purposes that these pre¬ 
cautions are all the more important. It is 
also important that each house should be pro¬ 
vided with some kind of automatic cut-off, 
so that if the pressure from the gas-main 
should fail, and then be restored, there will 
be no danger of the house becoming filled | 
with gas through burners being left open. 

Safety Rules for Gas 

1. Study the rules for gas lights, page 27. 

2. Make sure that lamps, stoves, heaters, 
pipes that burn gas, and their connections, 
are well made, tight, and free from leaks. 

3. When you smell escaping gas, first open 
doors-and windows, then find the leak at 
once, 

v 4. Never look for a leak with a lighted 
match, lamp, candle, or flame of any kind £ 
use an electric flashlight, if you have one. 
otherwise find the leak by the sense of smell. 

5. Correct the leak at ohee, or else shut 
©ff the gas at the meter and send for a gas- 
fitter. Do not light up in the house until 
this has been donef 

6. Never buy cheap rubber gas-tubing. If 
you cannot connect with solid-iron pipes get a 
good quality of flexible metal tubing and 
make sure that it is tightly joined at both 
<ends. 


mi 
















Lightning, and Some Strange Ideas 


D ID you watch that big thunder-storm 
roll up last evening? It was a won¬ 
derful sight. Long before the rain 
fell, flashes of lightning could be seen darting 
add twisting through the great masses of 
clouds while the thunder first rumbled, then 
roared, and finally came in a succession of 
crashes that made the windows rattle. 

Fortunately, no one was hurt, but two 
barns were set on fire, a flagpole was shat¬ 
tered into splinters, and a tremendous limb 
was torn from the white-oak tree at the top 
of the hill. It was the lightning which did 
those things, for there was no wind to speak 
of. What an amazing force! 

It is a strange thing, this electricity, for 
of course we all know that lightning is elec¬ 
tricity. Did you ever wonder about its ter¬ 
rific power, appearing and disappearing so 
quickly? Many other people have wondered 
in exactly the same way during thousands of 
years. The ancient Greeks believed that 
thunderbolts were hurled in anger by their 
great god Zeus, and the Romans had much the 
same idea, but called their god, Jupiter. The 
people of northern Europe imagined the light¬ 
ning flash to be the hammer of the fierce 
god, Thor, flying so swiftly that it made a 
streak across the sky. All of them felt that 
they were looking upon a great, mysterious 







SAFEGUARDING THE HON®' 



Wrariklin and His 
$£ite Experiment 


force,/ something to be afraid of. No on# 
suspected that it was also a willing and 
mighty servant, merely waiting for men to 
become wise enough to command its services* 

How a Servant Was Discovered 

It was only a few generations ago that sci¬ 
entists began to learn some of the secret laws 
of this force. Every one knows the story of 
how Benjamin Franklin drew electricity from 
a thunder-storm by means of a kite, and of 
how Galvani turned a current into the sew¬ 
ered leg of a frog and caused it to kick. Still, 
electricity was considered as a mere scientific 
wonder. Very feeble currents were produced 
in the laboratories; nobody seemed to think 
that anything would come of it. 

At last there appeared a great invention, 
the_ dynamo. There is no need to describe 
the dynamo here, but it made possible the 
production of a strong current, one powerful 
enough to be of some value. The dynamo 
in its simplest form was invented by Faraday 
in the year 1831; that really was the year 
in which the force became a servant and 
went to work for man. It took-some time to 
work out details, but in course of time it was 
seen that the new servant was to be a won* 
derful helper that could do much of the work 
of mankind. It could be sent anywhere by 
means of wires, and could accomplish the 
most amazing things. 

To-day it lights our streets and houses, 
it runs our cars and even our trains, it car¬ 
ries our messages and our voices, it furnishes 
the power in thousands of factories, and is 
used in so many other ways that the mere 
list would be a long one. There is hardly 
a town in this country where the electric 
I 62 J 

















ELECTRICITY 


current is not utilized; there is hardly a per¬ 
son who does not employ it in some form. 
We often truly say that this is the “Age of 
Electricity.” For this reason, every ones 
should understand something of its laws, and 
appreciate that it has dangers as well as 
uses. Every one should be able to recognize 
these dangers, and learn how they may b^ 
avoided. 

The Danger in Being a Good Conductor 

The electric current will travel readily 
through some substances, and these are called 
“good conductors.” Other substances ares 
“non-conductors,” since they offer an obstacle 
to its passage. Most metals are good con¬ 
ductors, while rubber and glass are examples 
of non-conductors. The human body is a 
moderately good conductor . For this reason 
it is dangerous for a person to touch trolley 
wires, electric-light wires, “third rails,” or 
anything else which carries a heavy current. 
If such a current passes through the body, it 
will almost certainly cause death. 

One should never pick up a wire that ha§ 
fallen to the ground before making sure that 
no electric current is flowing through it. It 
is a dangerous thing even to lean against a 
<pole supporting electric wires or to touch the 
guy-wires of such poles; sometimes these be¬ 
come charged with enough electricity to pro¬ 
duce a violent shock. 

However, we are studying about electricity 
as a fire hazard. Figures prove that the fire 
loss from electricity is greater than that from 
any other single cause. A great many fires 
occur from defective wiring, bad insulation, 
poor switches, etc. These, of course, are usu¬ 
ally the fault of the electrician who does the 

[631 



It Must Be Carefully 
Installed 












SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



The Wire Must Bo 
Detached at the Socket 



Wiring, tod for this reason no one should 
be employed who is not known to be expert 
tod careful. Saving money by hiring a cheap 
workman may be a very expensive kind of 
ocoliomy. 

Fires due to the electric current often break 
out behind walls or under floors, where it 
is difficult to get at them. It also is important 
to see that any wires leading to connections 
outside the house are run in such a manner 
that there is no possibility of their becoming 
crossed with a trolley or street-lighting wire. 
Sometimes such crossings occur during the 
progress of a storm, and in such cases the 
house wires may receive a current much too 
strong for them, and one that will cause a 
hre. 

Carelessness at the Ironing-Board 

But carelessness in the use of the electric 
current is the greatest hazard of all. For 
example* a woman is ironing with an electric 
flatiron. The telephone bell rings, and she 
runs to answer, without remembering to 
turn off the current front her iron . She in¬ 
tends to hurry back to her work, but a caller 
arrives just as she finishes at the telephone* 
and soon shehas forgotten all about the iron. 

The current does not forget; it keeps stead¬ 
ily-at work, and the iron grows hotter and 
hotter. Some time later the woman smells 
smoke, vand traces it to the kitchen. To her 
alarm, the ironing-board is ablaze, and some 
Of the other furniture has begun to bum. 
If she had been called away from tho. house 
It might have been totally destroyed. 

Do you say that this is not likely to hap¬ 
pen in your home? The National Board of 
Firs Underwriters receives repasts of about 

\ m 



ELECTRICITY, 

one hundred fires 'per day from electric flit- 
irons, curling irons, plate warmers, and sim¬ 
ilar devices. Some of these are big fires, 
and some cause loss of life. Do you suppose 
that in any of these cases the people expected 
to have fires? Not at all; they were merely 
careless, and the fires occurred. The only safe 
rule is: Never leave any kind of an apparatus 
with the current turned on. Do not rely upon 
so-called “safety” devices. Sometimes these 
work, sometimes they do not. If one must 
leave even for a minute, the wire must b& 
detached at the socket . In that way there- 
can be no chance of a mishap. The wide¬ 
spread formation of such a habit would save 
many lives and millions of dollars. 

Misusing Light Bulbs 

There are also some precautions to be ob¬ 
served in using ordinary electric-light bulbs. 
Such lights are not generally dangerous un¬ 
less misused, but it is unsafe to use them 
for warming beds or for drying clothing, as: 
is sometimes done. A recent incident will 
show why this is so. A guest in a Pennsyl¬ 
vania hotel hung a damp garment over a 
light bulb in order to dry it out. Some time 
later he was carried unconscious from the 
smoke-filled room. Investigation showed that 
the heat from the light, because of being con¬ 
fined by the garment, became so intense that 
the glass first softened, and then collapsed. 
If help had not been close at hand the results 
might have been more serious than they were. 

This incident calls attention to the heat 
generated by incandescent lamps and to the 
danger of confining this heat. It is decidedly 
unsafe to use paper or other inflammable 
shades on these lamps, as is sometimes done, 

[ 65 ] 








SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

linless they are protected by asbestos or 

metal. 

Taken all in all, electricity is one of our 
most valuable servants, but its value and con¬ 
venience should not lead one to forget that 
carefulness in its use is always a factor of 
safety. A home fitted with electric lights and 
appliances may be a safe home, but only^lf 
It be the home of careful people. 

Safety Rules for Electricity 

1. Remember that the human body is a con¬ 
ductor ; do not touch wires, rails, or anything 
else which may be charged with electricity, 

2. Do not have wiring done or connections 
made by any one but an expert and careful 
electrician. 

S. Never leave an electric device even for, 
a moment without making sure that the cur¬ 
rent is turned off. 

4. Never'use electric-light bulbs for warm** 
mg beds or for drying clothes. 


\ 


[ 66 ] 



I N the spring of 1892 an electrical engi¬ 
neer, named Thomas L. Wilson, was mak¬ 
ing some experiments with an electric 
furnace in a North Carolina town. We are 
not so much interested in what he was try¬ 
ing to do as in what he really did do. When 
his electric furnace had cooled he found 
within it a dark, brittle substance which 
looked like stone. Its color was gray. 

That wasn’t at all what he was looking for. 
In disgust, he threw the stuff into a neigh¬ 
boring stream. Instantly the water bubbled 
and began to give off great quantities of a 
queer-smelling gas. Somebody applied a 
flame to the gas, and it burned brightly. 

That was twenty-six years ago, and to¬ 
day that same queer-smelling gas is lighting 
our bicycles, many of our automobiles, even 
our railroads and our harbors. 

The grayish, stonelike substance was cal¬ 
cium carbide, which is a chemical composed 
of calcium and carbon, or, as a chemist would 
write it, CaC 2 ; that is, each molecule of acety¬ 
lene, which is the smallest quantity of it we 
can think of, is composed of one atom of cal¬ 
cium and two atoms of carbon, atoms being 
the smallest conceivable quantities of simple 
substances like calcium and carbon; and the 
gas which is produced by contact of a carbide 
with water is known as acetylene. 

[ 67 ] 









SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



Various Acetylen§ 
Lights 


In one way the acetylene gas is superior 
even to electricity ; that is in its ability to 
shine through fog and mist. For this reason 
it is used for railroad signal lamps and for 
harbor buoys. For the same reason, auto¬ 
mobiles sometimes use acetylene lamps. 

As soon as this gas came into general use 
the world began to hear of fires that were 
caused by it. This seems to be the rule with 
many new discoveries. Calcium carbide is 
cheap, and widely sold, and water is found 
everywhere; consequently there is always 
danger of the two being accidentally brought 
together. Acetylene, like many other gases, 
needs only to be mixed with air to become 
highly explosive. This means that one must 
take no chances with any of this carbide in 
his possession, but must always keep it in 
a tightly covered metal box in a dry place. 

Acetylene’s principal use in the household 
is for lighting. There are many different 
types of lamps on the market, and all of them 
act on the principle of regulating the amount 
of water that comes in contact with the car¬ 
bide, so that the gas will be generated slowly, 
at a uniform rate sufficient to meet the de¬ 
mand for the gas. It is always a wise thing 
to pay enough for such lamps to make sure 
that they are of the safest kind; that is, that 
they are well and strongly made as a guaran¬ 
tee against leakage, and that their operation 
makes it impossible for water and carbide to 
come together except gradually and in rela¬ 
tively small quantities. 

The National Board maintains its Under¬ 
writers’ Laboratories in the city of Chicago 
for the purpose of testing all kinds of appa¬ 
ratus and only those which are proved to be 
[ 68 ] 







ACETYLENE 


safe are allowed to carry its label. If there 
is an acetylene generator for your house you 
should make sure that it is labeled by the 
Underwriters’ Laboratories. 

The dangers from the use of acetylene are 
very much the same as those from illumi¬ 
nating gas. See what is said about these 
points under “Lights” and “Gas.” Fortu¬ 
nately, acetylene, like illuminating gas, has a 
strong odor, and it is easy to tell when it is 
escaping. 

Safety Rules for Acetylene 

1. Keep calcium carbide only in a tightly 
covered metal box; never leave the cover off. 

2. In buying an acetylene lamp or lighting 
plant, always make sure that it bears the 
label of the Underwriters’ Laboratories. 

8. Fill the generators or lamps by daylight 
only. 

4. Always remember that acetylene gas is 
very dangerous, and do not try experiments 
with the carbide. Study the gas warnings 
under “Lights” and “Gas .* 1 



Kee t , ___ 

in Tightly Covered 
Metal Boxes 


9 


$ 













P AVE you ever seen a 
cigar and then throw away the 
*$yhile it was still burning? Have you 
ever watched a smoker knock the ashes from 
his pipe without heeding the bright sparks 
carried away by the wind? Have you ever 
noticed how people throw away glowing cig¬ 
arette and cigar stumps without taking the 
trouble to notice where they fall? 

Of course you have—many times a day. 
On the street, in houses and barns, on trains 
and steamers, in shops and stores, in fact, 
everywhere, these little firebrands are con¬ 
stantly being dropped by people who really 
know better but are merely careless, 

The next time you see a man throw 
lighted match over his shoulder, just say to 
yourself, or to him, if you know him well 
enough: 

“Do you know that you are an enemy to 
your country? Do you know that you, and 
others like you, are costing the United States 
$165,000 a week, which is sixteen dollars a 
minute, by causing fires? Do you know that 
you are killing people, causing explosions, de¬ 
stroying homes and wrecking factories V 9 


170 } 





SMOKING 


If you said this to a man he would prefer¬ 
ably look at you in amazement; he might even 
resent your frankness, but you would be “do¬ 
ing your bit” for your country, since every 
word you spoke would be true. 

The United States raises every year more 
than one million pounds of tobacco, and large 
quantities also are imported from other coun¬ 
tries. To light that amount of tobacco it 
has been estimated that five thousand 
matches are struck every second. Five thou¬ 
sand matches lighted by smokers every sec¬ 
ond ! No wonder the careless smoker is con¬ 
sidered a dangerous person. 

Now you can understand why New York 
City has made it a penal offense to throw 
away a lighted cigar or cigarette in any 
structure, building, car, or other vehicle for 
the common carriage of passengers. Under 
this law there were in one year 1377 convic¬ 
tions and punishments. 

Have you ever stopped to think why there 
are so many “No Smoking” signs? Perhaps 
you may have thought that the people in 
the places where these signs are placed dis¬ 
liked the odor of tobacco. Nothing of the 
kind. It is because the careless smoker is 
such a menace to life and property that it 
is safer to prohibit all smoking. In fact, 
in many places the “No Smoking” sign is 
required by law. The New York Fire Pre¬ 
vention Bureau law on that subject is a mar¬ 
vel of brevity; it says simply: “There shall 
t)e no smoking in factories.” This is because 
* so many operatives work side by side in large 
rooms, perhaps on inflammable materials* 
and the danger to life is very great. 

£713 



Watch Careless 
Smokers 




SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 


$Vhat Happened Near Washington Square 
One bright spring afternoon in 1911 a fire 
(broke out on the tenth floor of a factory build¬ 
ing near Washington Square, New York City, 
&nd spread almost instantly over the whole 
floor. In a short time 147 girls who had been 
making shirtwaists, without a thought of 
danger, were killed by the flames or by leap¬ 
ing in terror from the windows. It is a 
shocking thing to realize that this frightful 
accident is believed to have been caused by a 
careless smoker. Think of what he has to 
answer for. If, therefore, you should chance 
to see any violation of this rule against smok¬ 
ing in factories—if you should, for example, 
see a stranger enter the factory with a cigar 
in his mouth, or find a boy smoking a cig¬ 
arette in the basement, or notice a workman 
putting a hot pipe in his packet as he entered 
the door—think of the poo* girls who were 
killed in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, and re- 

Cigarettes Cause Many port the facts at Once. 

Fire 8 * 

^ What else can you do to lessen the number 
pf fires from smoking? 

For one thing, you can make it your busi¬ 
ness to watch all smokers, and promptly 
stamp out any burning matches, cigar or 
cigarette stumps they throw away, and you 
can urge others to do the same. Further¬ 
more, if there is a smoker in your own fam¬ 
ily, you can make it your business to warn 
him against throwing his cigar stumps about 
heedlessly, and you can tell him that one of 
the very common ways of setting houses on 
fire at night is to smoke in bed. 

Children Should Never Smoke 
Children, of course, should never smoke un¬ 
der any circumstances. It checks their 
[72] 



SMOKING 


growth, it weakens their nerves, their diges¬ 
tion, and the action of their hearts. Teachers 
and police-court judges well know that boy 
cigarette smokers are apt to be backward 
mentally, morally, and physically. Most boy 
criminals are found to be cigarette smokers. 
Besides, smoking is one of the' principal rea¬ 
sons why boys get in the habit of carrying 
matches, a habit which, as we have seen, is 
responsible for many fires. 

The only interest, therefore, that children 
should have in tobacco is to see that their 
elders use it safely. Any boy or girl who 
keeps a sharp eye on all smokers, and who 
stamps out all burning matches and cigar 
stumps, is rendering a public service which 
this country greatly needs. 

Safety Buies in Smoking 

1. Watch the careless smoker; notice where 
he throws matches, cigars, and cigarettes 
when he has finished with them; stamp out 
any sparks you may see. 

2. Report all violations of “No Smoking 7 * 
rules and warn people of the danger. 

3. Give people special and emphatic warn¬ 
ing against the danger of smoking in bed. 

4. Tell your friends that smoking is harm¬ 
ful to children as well as dangerous to those 
about them* 





A Harmful Practice 
for Boys 


p*j 



A Strange Combination 

C OTTON comes from the cotton fields of 
our own southern states; camphor 
comes from the vast tropical forests 
in the far-off Island of Formosa—who would 
think of putting those two things, as well as 
certain acids, together? Certainly, it would 
hardly occur to one of us, yet about fifty years 
ago it was discovered that they could be 
combined to produce a new material adapted 
to so many uses, that today it is in almost 
every home. Its proper name is pyroxylin 
plastic compound . 

This lesson is to tell you that pyroxylin 
plastic compound causes many fires in the 
hands of careless people, but is reasonably 
safe when people know its dangers and take 
precautions. 

“Well,” you may say^ “I never heard that 
name before; there is certainly nothing like 
that in my home.” On the contrary, it is al¬ 
most certainly in your home at this minute; 
lots of it; you have handled it today. Think 
a bit! It does not look like cotton; it does not 
look like camphor; it does not look like acid. 
It is generally white, although often colored; 
it is hard and smooth and shiny, and it is 
made into so many articles that, like as not, 
it will be found in almost every room- 
articles like brush and mirror backs, combs, 
[ 74 ] 
























PYROXYLIN PLASTIC 


hairpins, collars, toys, eyeshades, cuff guards, 
knife and fork handles, boxes, trays, clocks 
and picture frames; the eyelets in your shoes 
are probably made of it, the keys on your 
piano, perhaps, and so on with many other 
things. There are few substances which entei? 
so constantly into,our common life, and there 
are few substances which so need to be under* 
stood. 

Now, have you guessed? Of course, yoU 
doubtless have known it by one of its many 
trade names, such as “Celluloid,” “Pyralin, ,? 
“Fiberloid,” “Xylonite,” “Viscoloid,” “Pari¬ 
sian Ivory,” “French Ivory,” “Ivortone/- 
“Ivortus,” etc. This is a valuable and con¬ 
venient material, nevertheless, it is charged 
with causing a large number of fires and is 
mentioned almost daily in- fire reports re¬ 
ceived by Ths National Board of Fire Under¬ 
writers. 

Since all of these fires are due to careless¬ 
ness, it can be seen that we are dealing with 
a substance which needs to be understood 
and properly safeguarded. The Bureau of 
Standards of the United States Government 
has this to say upon the subject: 

“If heated somewhat above the boiling point of 
water, decomposition takes place so rapidly that the 
material heats itself to a point where ignition or 
explosion occurs. ... A hot curling iron, or even 
a steam radiator, may be sufficient to cause igni¬ 
tion of these materials. Many persons have been 
seriously burned by the use of combs, collars, and 
other celluloid articles.” 

A Dangerous Candlestick 

Several years ago, some fire-insurance men, 
to their amazement, discovered that pyroxy¬ 
lin plastic was being used to make candle¬ 
sticks. Some of the manufacturers argued 
[ 75 ] 




SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



that a metal cup at the top of the candlestick 
would catch the hot candle grease and pre¬ 
vent all danger, but it was soon found out 
that such was not the case, for when the 
candle was lighted and allowed to burn down, 
the candlestick took fire and burned with 
violence. When the matter was called to the 
attention of the makers of pyroxylin plastic, 
they refused longer to furnish it to the 
candlestick manufacturers. It is possible, 
however, that some of these candlesticks are 
still in existence, and if you ever hear of any 
person owning one, tell him to break it into 
small pieces and throw it away. It is too 
dangerous a thing to leave around the house, 

A particular warning is necessary against 
the use of knives and forks having handles of 
this material. It is always dangerous to put 
hot curling-irons into a dresser with pyroxy¬ 
lin plastic combs or hairpins, while pyroxylin 
plastic ashtrays and burnt-match receivers 
should be abolished altogether. 

We are now considering a different kind 
of fire peril from those of preceding lessons. 
Matches, lights, stoves, fire, cooking, kero¬ 
sene, gasoline, gas, acetylene, and smoking—* 
all of these materials or operations require 
the use of fire, but celluloid and such sub¬ 
stances can not stand fire, for it destroys 
them. The danger they present comes from 
the fact that they are so common and take 
fire so easify. 

However, the precaution to keep them 
harmless is very simple: Keep them away 
from fires and from great heat. 

Safety Rules for Pyroxylin Plastic 
Compounds 

1. Never tolerate pyroxylin plastic candle¬ 
sticks. 


[ 76 ] 




PYROXYLIN PLASTIC 


2. Don’t keep matches in 3 pyroxylin plas¬ 
tic box. 

3. Keep everything that smells of camphor 
away from fire or great heat. 

4. Be careful to keep away from fires if 
you are wearing a pyroxylin plastic collar or 
imitation shell combs. 

5. Warn people not to smoke when wear¬ 
ing a transparent eyeshade. 

6. Tell them not to use cigarette holders, 
ashtrays, or burnt-match receivers, made of 
this material. 




No Vacation for Common Sense 

I T seems almost a pity to preach precau¬ 
tions for holidays. We all like to draw a 
long breath on holidays, with the feeling 
that now we are free to do “just as we 
please.” Rules are well enough for ordinary 
days, but when the long-expected time has 
really come may we not at last find ourselves 
at liberty? Perhaps you have asked this 
question—a little rebelliously. 

And the answer is that you may feel free 
about many things, but not about fire. Nat¬ 
ural laws never take a vacation, and fire 
Iburns as fiercely upon holidays as at any 
other time. Many a joyous day has ended 
In pain and sadness for the very reason that 
people have felt so free from restraint that 
they forgot to be careful. 

There are some holidays that also have 
special hazards of their own. For example, 
we are only just beginning to realize that 
we can celebrate Independence Day without 
burning up a great deal of gunpowder. 
Fourth of July has always meant a day of 
cracking and banging, with perhaps the 
sound of fire bells heard from time to time, 
and the expectation of accidents as a matter 
of course. 

It seemed a great hardship to the small 
boy when people began to talk about a “safe 
[7S1 




/ 

HOLIDAYS 

and sane” Fourth, but it eased the strain 
upon his parents, while it relieved the fire¬ 
men of the hardest day’s work of their entire 
year. 

The “Glorious Fourth” in Dorchester 

Upon July 4, 1913, & Dorchester, Massac 
chusetts, youngster was having a delightfully 
noisy time with a bunch of firecrackers, and 
one of the crackling little paper tubes set 
fire to one building in a wooden “row.” Be¬ 
fore the fire department could extinguish the? 
fames twenty-seven houses had been dam-# 
aged and five of them were completely de¬ 
stroyed. This is merely one example of the 
fishes, little and big, which were started iii 
thousands of towns upon every Fourth, leav¬ 
ing multitudes of people homeless by night¬ 
fall. 

But the worst feature of all was the series 
of accidents with which the next day’s papers 
were always filled. Children were blinded, 
or had fingers blown off, or were disfigured 
by hums, and the death list was never small. 
The nation paid a, terribly high price for its 
“patriotism.” 

Now, however, it is coming to he appreci¬ 
ated that it is not truly patriotic to cause 
danger to one’s neighbors, and that it is just 
as pleasant, and much safer, to celebrate In¬ 
dependence Day by means of exercises, 
games, parades, and outdoor sports. Within 
the past few years, therefore, the list of 
deaths, accidents and fires on this day has 
grown much smaller, although it is still far 
too high. The safer rule to follow is that 
fireworks should never be handled except by 
grown people who realize their danger and 
take proper precautions. 

[ 79 ] 



Various Forma of 
Celebration 



SAFEGUARDING\ THE HOME 


A bulletin published by the National Fire 
Protection Association gives these particu¬ 
lars : 

Human Sacrifices to Independence Day 

The table shows by years the steady progress of 
the safe and sane idea. As heretofore, all accidents 
not due directly to the discharge or handling of fire¬ 
works, or other means of noise production and dis¬ 
play, on or about the Fourth of July, have been 
omitted. Of the 749 deaths from Fourth of July in¬ 
juries, other than from tetanus, in the fourteen 
years, 227, the largest number, were burned to death; 
208, the next largest number, were killed by fire- 
apns; 119 by explosives; 59 and 52, respectively, by* 
giant crackers and toy cannons, and 84 persons by 
various forms of fireworks. Of the ten victims of 
fatal burning in the celebration of 1916, nearly all 
were little girls or small children, and the fireworks 
responsible were in most cases described as “harm¬ 
less.” 


(Compiled by Journal of the American Medical 
Association ) 


Year 

Dead 

Injured 

Total 

1903 

466 

3,983 

4,449 

1904 

183 

3,986 

4,169 

1905 

182 

4,994 

5,176 

1906 

158 

5,308 

5,466 

1907 

164 

4,249 

4,413 

1908 

1909 

163 

215 

5,460 

5,092 

5,623 

5,307 

1910 

131 

2,752 

2,923 

1911 

57 

1,546 

1,603 

1912 

41 

947 

988 

1913 

32 

1,131 

1,163 

1914 

40 

1,465' 

1,506 

1915 

30 

1,135 

1,165 

1916 

30 

820 

850 

JLotai tor 
Fourteen Years 

1,892 

42,909 

44,801 


To this may now be added the figures for 
1917, when, according to the Chicago Trib¬ 
une, the deaths were reduced to fourteen and 
the number of injuries to three hundred and 
fifty-three. 

Of all the days of the year, Christmas is 
probably the greatest favorite, and yet it, 
too, has a terrible record of unnecessary fires. 
Strange as it may seem to Northerners, many 
pf these fires are caused by gunpowder, be- 

[ 80 ] 




HOLIDAYS 


cause firecrackers and fireworks are much 
used in celebrating Christmas in the South¬ 
ern States. Here is an extract from an edi¬ 
torial in the Nashville Tennessean (Decern* 
ber 27, 1916) > 

Christmas and Gunpowder 

On Christmas day in Nashville a quiet m keep* 
ing with the saeredness of the day was observed. 
Scarcely an explosion of fireworks was heard. Not 
a single accident was reported. Only one fire alarm 
was turned in, and the damage from that fire 
amounted to a dollar and a half. 

On the same day in Atlanta fireworks were ex¬ 
ploded after the old fashion. Thirty accidents were 
reported. Some of them will result in death, and 
many were serious. No report is yet''obtainable as 
to the number of fires in Atlanta, but, doubtless, 
there were a number of them, with considerable 
property loss. 

Every Christmas before this one Nashville's case 
was similar to that of Atlanta. The change is due 
to a new law regulating the sale and discharge of 
fireworks, promulgated by Charles W. Schuyler, com¬ 
missioner of the Department of Fire Prevention. 

The celebration of Christmas Day in the 
North, however, is nearly as bad because of 
the dangerous decorations in millions of 
homes. Santa Claus is associated with snow, 
and so people surround Christmas trees with 
cotton-wool to imitate snow, and hang them 
with cut paper and celluloid ornaments, all 
of which will blaze up at a spark. Worst of 
jail, they add lighted candles to complete the 
dangerous combination. They also put dried 
branches of evergreen, holly and mistletoe 
upon gas fixtures, hang them with tissue- 
paper ropes, and do other things that invite 
a conflagration, 

A fire, once started in a room thus deco¬ 
rated for Christmas, is likely to spread with 
terrible swiftness. Every year the papers 
tell of many homes destroyed and many peg* 
pie burned to death. 

[313 





SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 




Vever Have Candle* 
on Christmas Tree « 


Of course, such fires are unnecessary*. A 
Christmas tree shoul4 not be lighted unless 
this can be done with electric lights, and 
even then special care must be taken to see 
-that the wiring, lights, etc., are in good con¬ 
dition. Cotton-wool and cut-paper decora¬ 
tions are extremely dangerous, and should 
never be. used. It is also dangerous to leave* 
the Christmas greens in the house for more 
than two or three days following Christmas, 
because when thoroughly dry they are ex¬ 
tremely inflammable. From the fire-preven¬ 
tion standpoint, cleaning up after Christmas 
is one of the most important precautions of 
the entire year. 

After all, it is possible to have just as good 
a time without forgetting the simple rules 
dictated by common sense. There is an old 
saying that “it is better to be safe than to 
be sorry,” and this should be applied with 
particular force on holidays. 

Safety Rules for Holidays 

1. Do not take foolish risks. 

2. Try to have a good time without burning 
gunpowder, but if there must be fireworks 
let them be handled only by grown people. 

S. Do not use lighted candles on Christ¬ 
mas trees. If you desire lights, use only elnc^ 
trie lamps, carefully wired. 

4. Do not use cotton-wool, tissue paper, 
and other inflammable decorations. 

5. Remove all Christmas greens yrithin 
two or three days. 


[ 82 | 




Why the House Was Burned L 
T is often said that the first five minutes 
at a fire is worth more than the next five 


■ hours. If you have ever seen a real fire 
start you will know what this means. 

Not long ago, a guest in a handsome coun¬ 
try house was awakened by the cry of fire. 
He ran into the hall, and saw that a parti¬ 
tion had begun to blaze as^the result of an 
overheated furnace pipe. It was a very small 
blaze; A hand extinguisher would have put 
it out in a moment; so would a pail or two 
of water, but the foolish people had no ex¬ 
tinguisher and no pails of water. Some one 
rushed to the bathroom, but. found that there 
had been an accident to the water pipes; 
not a drop would run. So the first five min¬ 
utes went by, and the little blaze quickly 
grew into a great mass of flame that soon 
began to eat through the walls and ceiling. 
In the end, the house was burned to the 
ground. 

In this lesson we come to a different divi¬ 
sion of our subject. We have been studying 
the prevention of fires, but it also* is impor¬ 
tant to know how to deal with fires that do 
occur. In fact, this, too, is a kind of fire 
prevention; it prevents little fires from be¬ 
coming big ones. 


[ 83 ] 
















SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



Fires Must Be 
While They Ai 



asssia 
ut Out 
Small 



Let us remember, then, that we are never 
far from the possibility of fire. We ha^e 
seen how fire enters into our daily lives in 
all sorts of useful ways, and how it is always 
seeking to escape from bounds and become 
the master. We have seen how many of the 
familiar objects in our homes may be a cause 
of fire peril, and we have studied plans for 
increasing our safety. Bui{even this is not 
enough. In spite of our precautions some 
fires will occur, perhaps because some one 
else has been careless. What shall we do 
when we are face to face with the actual 
ganger, and see before us the sudden burst 
Of flame? 

How to KeOp Cool 

First of all/ let us keep our heads. We 
must act quickly, of course, but excitement 
may make us do exactly the wrong thing. It 
is not easy to keep from getting excited, do 
you say? Yes, there is one way; it is by 
studying it all out in advance, when there is 
no fire , and deciding just what should be done 
in such a case. Then we shall not need to 
stop and think if we find ourselves confronted 
by sudden danger. After all, it is simple 
enough; there are only a few rules to re- 
Jnember. 

Let us see. We have already tioticed that 
most fires are small in the beginning, there¬ 
fore the time to put them out is at once, 
before they have had a chance to spread. 
How? By means of an extinguisher , if there 
be one within reach, as there should be in 
every home.. There are various types of hand 
fire extinguishers on the market; all houses 
should be equipped with some good type, 
placed at /convenient points, ivithia plain 
[34] 





THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES 


sight and easy reach*, and every member of 
the family, including visitors and servants, 
should be taught ho^v to'use them. Fire may 
break out suddenly; it generally takes one 
entirely by surprise. In the hurry of the 
moment one must not have to wait to read 
directions.' One must know; in advance ex¬ 
actly what to do. / 

And then remember that whether water 
dr an extinguisher is used, the fire should 
always be attacked at its base, the place 
where the flames start. It is the burning ma¬ 
terial, instead of the flames themselves, 
which should be drenched or smothered. If 
water is used, and the blaze is still a small 
one, it is generally more effective to throw 
on the water a little at a time instead of all 
at once. Some small blazes can be beaten out 
with a broom or a coat. 

If^the Clothing Catches Fire 

Fire in clothing is particularly dangerous, 
and calls for quick action, but without ex¬ 
citement. Tear off the burning clothing, if 
possible, or smother it by wrapping about 
the body any woolen cloth within reach. 
Never try to smother a fire with a cotton 
cloth, because cotton will burn. Running is 
the worst thing th&t could possibly be done, 
since it fans the flames. jOne effective way 
of smothering is to throw to the floor the 
person whose clothing is on fire and cover 
him with a rug or other woolen material, 
throwing it downward toward the feet in 
order to keep the flames from the face. Al¬ 
ways remember that the flames must be kept 
from the face . 

If the fire is outside of the house, in the 
roof or exterior walls, oj in some outbuilding, 
[85] 



Putting Out a Fire Ofi 
the Floor 



Smothering Burning 
Qlothing with & Rug 











SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 



Keeping the Roof We t 




use a garden hose, if possible. If your own 
house is not on fire, but there happens to be 
a fire near by, so that there is danger from 
sparks and brands, keep your roof wet by 
using the hose or by passing buckets of wa¬ 
ter. The hand force-pumps used for spray-* 
ing trees are also valuable in fire fighting. 

Study these simple rules until they are 
thoroughly learned, then, if you are in dan¬ 
ger, they will'llash into your mind, and you 
will be able to do the right thing without 
excitement. 

Rules for Fighting Small Fires 

1. Keep cool, and act quickly, before the 
fire can spread. 

2. Make your plans in advance as to what 
you would do in case of fire. 

3. Have one or more hand fire extinguish¬ 
ers within easy reach. 

4. Be sure that every one in the house 
knaw&'where they are and how to use them. 

5. Do not Mm at the flames but at the place 
jvhere the flames start. 


6. If you use water, it is~ generally best 
|o throw it on in small quantities. 

7. Small fires can sometimes be beaten out 
v ydth a broom or coat. 



mi 


i 









L AST of all, we come to the fires which 
have not been extinguished at the start 
and which, therefore, cannot be put 
out easily. No, of course we don't like to 
think that such things can happen to us; we 
readabout' thenr in the papers, and some¬ 
times we follow the engines to a place where 
some other family's house is on fire. Never¬ 
theless, the people irnthat other family didn't 
expect to see their hoW in flames, either* 
Probably they didn't know what to do when 
the fire broke, out, because they had never 
given the subject much thought. You are 
going to think about it now; then you will 
be prepared. 

Suppose that you were to go to sleep some 
night, feeling perfectly safe, and wake sud¬ 
denly to find the house full of smoke and 
every one rushing excitedly about. It is hard 
to think straight at such times unless you 
have made your plans in advance. 

Therefore, never go to bed without know¬ 
ing the quickest, safest way to leave the 
house. If it is by a window, be sure that the 
window isn't locked, and that it is not too 
fiigh for a jump; if it is by a hall or stair¬ 
way, be sure that you know every turn in 
the dark, whether to right or left, and that 
there is nothing to stumble over. 

It is dangerous to leave things standing 

[87] 



Know 
Before 






SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

about in halls, doorways, or on steps. Some¬ 
times you will see city fire-escapes filled 
with boxes or flower pots or other things. 
People who can be so criminally careless as 
that hardly deserve to be saved; that kind of 
carelessness costs many lives. 

Look around in daylight, therefore, plan 
your escape, and make sure that the way is 
kept clear at all times. 

But that is not all; it is only the beginning. 
[You may be the only cool-headed person in 
[the house, and you must know how to give 
the alarm. If you find that you cannot put 
the fire out yourself, shout “Fire!” unless 
you happen to be in a crowded room. Of 
course, one should never call “Fire!” in such 
a place, for fear of causing a panic. Such a 
proceeding has sometimes resulted in terrible 
loss of life. If you discover fire where many 
people are gathered, speak of it calmly, and 
tell them that there is no danger if they will 
but go out quietly. 

The fire department is, of course, the best 
help to summon. Do you know where to find 
the nearest fire alarm? Do you know how to 
use it? If not, don’t waste a single day be¬ 
fore learning. Make yourself thoroughly fa¬ 
miliar with its operation at once! There 
may be no time to stop and read directions 
when the fire comes. x 

Not long ago, in a New York City apart¬ 
ment house, the elevator boy discovered a 
blaze, and rushed at once to the nearest alarm 
box. He turned the handle and then hurried 
back to help people to escape. This boy was 
brave, and he kept his head, but he had never 
studied the directions on the alarm box . 
Turaing'the handle merely opened the door; 

[ 88 ] 








SERIOUS FIRES 


It did not send in the alarm, for there was 
a hook to pull after the door was opened. 
Consequently, the fire engines did not come 
until the alarm had been sent in by some one 
[who understood how to turn one in, and so 
much time had then been lost that the fire did 
a large amount of damage. ^ 

! Unless the alarm is in the burning 
building, it is best to wait at the box in order 
[to direct the firemen where to go. But per¬ 
haps you may wish to send the alarm by tele¬ 
phone. Call the operator and merely say: 
“I wish to report a fire.” Then she will con¬ 
nect you with the fire department. Always 
give the address when sending in a telephone 
alarm; some people get excited and merely 
give the name, thus causing delay. 

So much for alarms. Now let us go back 
to consideration of the fire. Here is some 
good advice from Chief Kenlon of the Neyr 
York City Fire Department: 



Send an Alarm 


As soon as you discover that there is a lire in the 
house, go to the door of your room and, if it is 
closed, put your foot behind it and then open it cau¬ 
tiously, just enough so that you can see-out. Don’t 
throw the door open wide, because if the fire has 
been burning for some time..,there will be such a 
draft that you may' not be able to get the door shut 
again, and in that case the fire will rush in and 
set everything in the room afire, including yourself. 
If you find that there is a strong pressure against 
the door and that the fire is close, shut it and coolly 
consider what to do. It will be several minutes be¬ 
fore that door will bum through, and in that time 
you can make a sheet into a rope and slide to the 
ground with it or you can throw the mattresses and 
pillows out of the window so that if you have to 
jump yoq will have something soft to fall on. Don’t 
jump until it is absolutely necessary. 



Remember to close the door behind you Making a Rove of 

. . ,, , ... Bedclothing 

when leaving a burning room, as that will 
check the spread of the fire. 


[8J?i 


> 
















The Smoke is Thinnest 
Near the Floor 


SAFEGUARDING THE. HOME 

Sometimes a hallway is so thickly filled 
with smoke that it looks as though it would 
be impossible to passthroughrand yet it may 
be the only way to safety. Here is the best 
- method for getting through: Tie a wet towel 
over your mouth and*nose; then crawl along 
oir your hands and knees, for the smoke is| 
thinnest near to the floor. Say to yourself* 
“I will keep cool; I will not get excited.” 

Always remember that when a fire has 
such a start that you cannot put it out, the 
most important thing is to save life. If nai 
lives are in danger, you should save as many 
of the valuable things in the house as pos¬ 
sible. Don’t waste any time carrying out 
things of little value until you have made sure 
pf the jewelry, silver, pictures, and such 
things, and never be foolish enough to thro\y 
breakable things out of the windows, as ex¬ 
cited people sometimes do. 

Coolness, quickness, quietness, and knowl¬ 
edge of what to do, these are the valuable 
things to possess in a fire emergency, and 
there is not a boy or girl who reads these 
words but that may sometime be called upon 
to make use of them. Do not merely read 
these lessons, study them; make them a part 
of your knowledge. Then, if the test comes 
suddenly, you will BE PREPARED. 

Safety Rules in Serious Fires 

1. Make all your plans in advance. 

2. Never go to bed without knowing thG 
Quickest, safest way to leave the house. 

3. Keep the halls, stairs, doors, and fire- 
escapes free froap obstruction. 

4. Give the alarm promptly by calling 
"Fire!”—unless in a crowded room. 

[90] 









SERIOUS FIRES 

5. In a crowded room give the alarm 
« quietly and keep the people calm. 

6. Know where to find life nearest fire- 
alarm box, and study the directions in ad¬ 
vance. 

7. Wait by the box, if it is outside of the 
burning* building, so as to direct the firemen 
when they appear. 

8. If you send a telephone alarm, call the 
operator, and say -I wish to report a fire,” 
and be sure to give the address. 

9. If your door is closed, put your foot be¬ 
hind it, and open it cautiously. Slam it shut 
if the fire threatens to rush in. 

10. If there is smoke, but no flame, in the 
hallway, tie a wet cloth around your mouth 
and nose, and crawl on your hands and knees 

, If the smoke is dense. 

* 11. Close all doors that you pass, in order 
to keep the fire from spreading. 

12. Do not jump from a window unless it 
is absolutely necessary. x It is better to tear 
a sheet into strips, tie the strips together 
into a rope, fasten one end of the rope se¬ 
curely, and slide to the ground. 

13. If you have to jump, throw out mat¬ 
tress and bedding to break your fall. 

14. Always save life before property. In 
saving property, take out the most valuable 
things first. 

15. Don't throw breakable things from the 
windows. 

16. Always keep your head. 



Open the Door 
Cautiously 



Throw Out the Mattress 
Before Jumping 


[ 91 ] 
















Bi) the HON. C. P. WILBER 
State Firewarden of New Jersey 

F IRE not only destroys our homes 
and buildings, but burns up, in our 
forests, timber^ which would make 
thousands of homes, jesting it before 
it has been made into lumber, or into 
paper and the multitude of other things 
for which we use wood in our daily lives. 
It has been said truthfully that every year 
there is more lumber burned up in forest 
fires than all of America’s sawmills'manu¬ 
facture in a year. 

Resides this awful waste, these fires cost 
many human lives, 'cause untold suffering 
and do millions of dollars damage by de¬ 
stroying crops, and homes and even whole 
towns. They likewise kill multitudes of 
birds and wild animals and drive away 
those which escape by ruining their homes 
and feeding grounds. Also the blackened 
wrecks of woods drive away and keep away 
all sorts of people; the woods worker, the 
homeseeker, and the pleasure seeker. They 
leave the countryside a deserted waste, idle 
and unproductive, and worst of all, it must 
stay so for years. The ruins of the biggest 
fires in our cities are replaced by new build¬ 
ings in a few months or at longest in a year 

[92] ~ 











FOREST FIRES 


or two, but it takes from 30 to 150 years to 
rebuild a ruined forest. 

Too many people believe that the little 
fires crawling among the leaves or burning 
quietly in the underbrush are harmless. 
And yet they injure even the larger trees 
and kill the young growth and seedlings- 
from which the next forest must come, they 
also rob the forest of nature’s sponge for 
holding moisture and her fertilizer for 
feeding the trees, by burning up the 
humus. No fire is so small that it is insig¬ 
nificant or harmless. . A few moments 
spent by some “good citizen” who finds one 
will certainly prevent some damage. It 
will often avert a big conflagration, for any 
such fire, if left untended, is more than 
likely to be caught by some bidden gust of 
wind or to reach more inflammable cover 
and become a roaring furnace. 


Two Cases of Carelessness 


Like other fires, nearly all forest fires 
come from someone’s carelessness or igno¬ 
rance. Here are two examples from actual 
occurrences which show two of the main 
causes of fires and how easily they may 
make trouble. . 

A fire recently burned up more than 
2000 acres of fine woodland. When the 
man who was responsible for if was found 
this was his story: “It was an absolutely 
quiet morning and I had just a few weeds 
and briars to get rid of after cleaning up 
the garden, so I lighted them and watched 
the fire carefully. When it was almost 
burned out, there came a sudden whirl of 
wind and the fire-seemed to scatter and 



Brush Should be Burned 
in Small Piles Under 
Oareful Supervision 


[ 93 ] 





Large Camp Fires are Too 
Hot for Comfort or 
for Cooking and 
are Dangerous 


SAFEG UAEDING THE HOME 

start up everywhere at once, so that I could 
not put it out before it ^ot to the woods and 
got too big for me.” This man had never 
heard that it is always unsafe to start a fire 
for any purpose near the woods or fields 
when things are dry, and especially so in 
the Spring and Fall. He didn’t know that 
It is always more dangerous to build a fire 
in the morning than in the evening. He’d 
never learned that even on the quietest 
day, a little fire may start the air to moving 
or that the wind will often suddenly change 
direction or grow stronger. He had neg¬ 
lected to have water or a shovel or even 
something to beat out fire handy in case 
the unexpected did happen. He didn’t 
realize that, for even the smallest fires, 
grass and leaves should be raked back so 
that there is a big ring of soil around the 
fire. He had never been told that there 
were cheap and safe “rubbish burners” to 
be had for just such purposes. Because he 
was ^'6 ignorant he had done what hun¬ 
dreds of others do every year with bonfires, 
campfires or when “cleaning up,” he had 
made a graveyard full of blackened tomb¬ 
stones where a forest had stood. Remem¬ 
ber the mistakes he made and thei,advice in 
the chapter on “Open Fires,” when you 
have anything to do with such fires. 

A Hunter's Experience 

A good sportsman, used to the woods all 
his life and very careful in every way, 
said: “Fwas out after rabbits last fall with 
a new dog and while waiting a moment for 
him to jump something, lit my pipe. Just 
then he let out a yelp anckl went on to see 

[ 94 ] 






FOREST fires 


what he had started. He’d found a deer 
trail and gone off on it and I couldn’t call 
him back, so I turned homeward, and right 
where I’d lighted my pipe, found a little 
fire getting under way. It was quiet so 
that I got it out irva short time, but that 
taught me a lesson, for I’ve always thought 
I was as careful as a man could be.” If 
this man’s dog had jumped a rabbit instead 
of finding the fresh deer track, there would 
have been all the destruction of forest and 
game which forest fire does, and no one, 
least of all the man who started it, could 
have told how it happened. This man’s 
accidental fire is similar to thousands set 
each year by smokers who throw away 
lighted matches, cigarettes, cigars or pipe 
tobacco from car windows or automobiles wt forest Fires From-the 

. _ tit Front, Beating Toward 

or as they tramp the woods and roads. the source 

Don’t guess, but always know that a match 

is out before you drop it anywhere. Don’t 

ever be in such a hurry that you fail to 

tramp discarded “smokes” into the mineral 

soil before you leave, if there is any heat in 

them. Remember, that dry grass or leaves 

are even more inflammable than papers in 

a waste-basket. 

Who Is Your Firewarden? 

Most states now have firewardens or 
some similar organization for putting out 
forest fires. People living near the woods 
or traveling through them should know 
who these men are and how to reach them 
just as in a cityrthey should know where 
the nearest fire alarm box is and how to use 
it. Do you know who your local forest 
firewarden is? 



[ 95 ] 








SAFEGUARDING THE HOME 

Many states also require every one, set¬ 
ting ffre for any purpose near the woods, 
to secure a permit from a firewarden be¬ 
fore doing so. Those who plan to build 
fires should know whether such permits are 
needed and get one if they are, to avoid 
needless unpleasantness because of unlaw¬ 
ful fires. 

Safety Rules for Forest Fires 

To Prevent Them, 

1. Never drop lighted matches or smok¬ 
ing materials in the woods or fields or along 
the roads without putting out the match 
absolutely or stamping the “smoke” into 
the mineral soil. 

2. Never build an open fire for any pur¬ 
pose near the woods or fields when the 
woods are dry. 

3. Never leave any fire until it is en¬ 
tirely out. Drench it with water or cover 
it completely with mineral soil. 

To Control Them 

1. Never pass even the smallest fire un¬ 
noticed. Put it out yourself or see that a 
firewarden, the owner or some responsible 
resident starts for it before you leave. 

2. Fire travels with the wind always. 
Stop its front first and put out the sides 
and rear later. Sand or soil will smother 
it, beating will kill it, but water is always 
best. Flirt water or soil along the line, da 
noUlump it in one place. Beat toward the 
fire to avoid spreading it. 

& Always work slowly and deliberately 
m fighting fire soThat every motion counts 
and your energy is not wasted. 

f [96] 


: : ■ ' ' , 1 ; 


-* M 


ft <■: 





mm 


. 




•*■■. ■ <, 


; 


■ 




-A 






< j?' 


Y- -<sn> 


' JA$ *S 




* 




' Wy/? s . 




; : A' iTi.; 


'•v- . ,v ;wv H- 


;•> .>y;p 


'■VV'V. 


# : v*f 


mmm 

imm 






#>., : i 








■I m*. 


f<i; 


m 


■ir 


:vft. 






V 


fc 1 ?. 






■UH 




Wif'. 

SI? W?xm^y'XW s \ ff|| 
Hfltj 








ft® 








tJ'i 




r‘ ...S s' • ■ •.' 


i®i 


. 


fiw 

4 *»•;..: •' 



w 


'., •<. V • i'4-’'. 

'•■VS}?- '■'••' Vv.X^‘ iMtfM 

: i'v/, & 


M 


'V 


>1 


Mi 


& 


m 


•*' •• v 


W- 


“t ,>■:■<■■ 


m fas 











m 






raj 






•>5 




ill 


?V: 






1 




r* •„. >’• * '• '-i> •- i'v.'.H if*,'-? 

^ifp ; ipl 

':• r'’. .;;’*• 'L*■ 's'•:' v 'c:f-w 

v 'Mi 'M :>; ,yj. 

/V/'v 

"’•• / K ;lWf 


■■*■';■■■■'('■ 




■JK •/••>; ’•.'i': 








»! 






' :A : 


KlfWii 

. • . ■ ','v 


■iW 


mm 


-t: 


■i -r, n 




■im. 


WmmmM 




■ mi -fv*..-,>»• . i3'*ap»(i‘ii ■ *•••''.•.'••• .JSC••ValTW 

1 ; r,. •> I :'m 

' 






i-m 








RKr 














w 




m 


X‘" 


II 




v{!' ■ •;■» - 






-I 


^v- 






-T.i:-. 


%Si :iw f*: 

iife# 

■ Vi 


mm 


:, J— 

M . 

' \ A ’ ■ , . V- ■■' ' -; v . v' : 

|Sfep :«*?-3 


■ : ! m,■■ f .'..m 









./) />': 








ii 




•is ' 




mmm mmm- 


r.UM’ 


■X 


sv >' ■ 


. 

j?fg hmm 




- 


mBrn mm 


AJ(/|XJe,. 


.fw 














J. V- 






1 


•V-''j.vS 


A : 




' ^ 


■iiafe 




• f. -'•• •»:.- - ; '; 

■ -' 1 ‘m ii '■>' v-' ■ 

-'v^- .;v^ 

ii£»m i ;; v SStl 




;V 




st? 


• . • • • ^ > ■ ': 

' ? : . ■* . : " 

. ; s? vit ^-'11111' ^ m ym, r s ® 

mm-.'W v;vs.;■;■/,,V.=- '« : r V- 


sv, 


, w - - 

. .- : X: ; ■■,.! ..•* 




: 1 




MS 




. 


■ ^ , i m : SIS 




: V 


mm 











